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LETTERS AND ADDRESSES 



BY 



GEORGE THOMPSON, 



DURING HIS MISSION IN THE 



UNITED STATES, 



From Oct. Istj 1834, to Nov, 2T, 1835. 



BOSTON: 

PUBLISHED BY ISAAC KNAPP, 

No. 25, Cornbill. 

1837. 



£ 



r4^7z 



CONTENTS. 

Lecture at Lowell, 1 

Remarks at a meeting of the N. E. A. S. Society,. . 6 

Letter from Portland, 11 

Letter from Gen. Fessenden, 17 

Mr. Thompson at Plymouth, N. H 21 

at Pawtucket, R. 1 27 

" at Lowell, 30 

at South Reading, 34 

'' " at Dover, N. H 48 

Reply to Professor Whedon, 41 

Mr. Thompson at Philadelphia, 45 

*' " in Boston, 49 

'' '' Fast Lecture, 52 

" '' on the Peace Question, 58 

Letter from New- York, 61 

" Albany, 63 

Speech at New- York, 66 

Remarks in the New England Convention, 75 

Mr. Thompson at Andover, 77 

" " in Boston, First of August, 84 

" '' at Lynn, 88 

Denial of Kaufman's Charge, 93 

Mr. Thompson at East Abington, Mass 99 

at Concord, N. H 103 

Letter to Mr. Garrison, 106 

Letter from St. John, N. B 117 



NOTE. 

A volume has preceded the present one — published by 
Mr. Knapp, at 25, CornhilJ, Boston — containing the Lec- 
tures of George Thompson in England, with a full re- 
port of the discussion between Mr. Thompson and Mr. 
Borthwick, the pro-slavery agent, held at the Royal Am- 
phitheatre, in Liverpool. In noticiuii that volume, the 
editor of the American Quarterly Anti-Slavery. Magazine 
most happily remarks : 

'Whoever has listened to the rapturoas, impetuous, cat- 
aract eloquence of George Thompson, will not so much 
wonder that his reporters have failed fairly to write him 
down, as that they did not give up in utter despair. These 
speeches are not George Thompson ; yet, like pictures of 
rainbows, forked lightning, and the starry concave, there 
is something of glory in them which will do very well till 
you compare them with the original. We remember that 
before we heard our friend lecture, or dreamed of his com- 
ing to this country, we used to wonder whether his printed 
controversy with Borthwick were not an improvement upon 
the spoken one. We advise the American public, for their 
own credit, first to buy the book and then recall the man.' 

The sketches of Mr. Thompson's Lectures in the Unit- 
ed States, contained in the following pages, do not furnish 
the reader with any adequate conception of his eloquence 
and pathos : yet they are deemed too valuable, and are too 
closely connected with the history of the anti-slavery cause 
in the United States, to be left scattered through the pages 
of a newspaper. The letters are fine specimens of episto- 
lary writing — full of * thoughts that breathe, and words 
that burn.' 

Boston— 1S37. WM. LLOYD GARRISON. 



INTRODUCTION. 



It was deemed a sublime spectacle when the youthful Lafayette left 
his native land for a foreign shore, and perilled his fortune, ease, reputation 
and life, in order to espouse the cause of a brave but injured people in 
their unequal struggle for liberty. An example of patriotism so rare, so full 
of high-wrought chivalry, and so opposite to the dictates of human selfish- 
ness and prudence, could not fail to excite the admiration of the ^vorld,even 
before the termination of the generous and daring adventure. 

In the eye of mercy, in the judgment of charity, in the estimation of piety, 
and ultimately in tlie decision of mankind, far more of moral sublimity at- 
tended the embarkation of GEORGE THOMPSON for these shores, and 
still higher courage, devotion, fortitude and integrity were required in the 
n|;osecution of his great anti-slavery mission among us. 

f Let this assertion be tested by a comparison of circumstances, objects and 

^eituations. 



The people, whose cause Lafayette 
espoused, were respectable, intelli- 
gent, enterprising and heroic. He 
was not required, therefore, to make 
any sacrifice of respectability, or in- 
ii,cur any odium or ridicule, arising 
from their condition. 



--They were not enslaved : no 
chain ever galled their limbs, no whip 
was brandished over their heads, no 
driver followed at their heels, no la- 
borious task was assigned them, no 
knowledge was withheld from their 
minds, no robbery of their wages was 
attempted, no parental or filial rela- 
tion was violated, no restriction was 
placed upon their egress or ingress, 
no claim of property in their persons 
was set up, no traftic was carried on 
n any of their bodies. Hence, the 
njustice from which they were to be 
3elivered was, comparat"ively speak- 
ng,less than the weight of a feather. 



They in whose behalf George 
Thompson pleaded, were degraded 
— imenlightened— servile; and were 
universally the objects of derision, 
hatred and persecution. Hence, it 
required one to make himself like 
Christ on earth, ' of no reputation,' 
to identify himself with them. 

— They were ranked & treated as 
pieces of merchandize and as cattle ; 
were chained, whipped, driven, task- 
ed, plundered, forbidden to learn 
even the alphabet, sold in private 
and in public, cruelly restricted as 
to locomotion, and subjected to a 
bondage as brutal as it is intermina- 
ble. Hence, whatever concerns the 
whole man, for time or eternity — 
whatever of value is seen in the 
sanctity of marriage, in the impar- 
tial administration of justice, in the 
protection of law, in the prevalence 
of Christianity — was bound uj) in the 
struggle for their emancipation 



VI 



■ — Tliey stood ready, with open 
arms, with strong emotions of grati- 
tude, with universal acclamations, to 
receive their chivalrous advocate, 
and to promote hirato offices of trust 
and honor. 



— They were in their own country, 
and really masters of the soil; so 
that the young Frencli man's person- 
al risk was only in an occasional 
battle with enemies who had been 
transported across the Atlantic. — 
The people were with him, and 
around him, as an invulnerable bul- 
wark. 

— They were mighty in valor, full 
of heroic ardor, all marshalled for 
the strife of blood, rich in knowl- 
edge and therefore strong in power, 
and able to cope with a colossal 
force. Bravely could they suriiain 
Lafayette ! 

Lafayette came to shed blood, 
as a warrior — to lead on to the mor- 
tal encounter — to discuss the rights 
of man at the point of the bayonet 
and the mouth of the cannon — to 
make a display of physical courage 
— to secure the blood-stained laurels 
of renown — and to show the op- 
jyresscd of every clime how they 
ought to resist tyrants even unto 
death ! 



— They knew little or nothing of 
him who was toiling, early and late, 
through evil report and through good 
report, at the imminent hazard of 
his life, for their peaceful deliver- 
ance. They could not cheer, they 
could not promote,they could not even 
thank him for his disinterested advo- 
cacy and godlike benevolence. 

— They could give no succor or 
protection to their foreign champion, 
and he asked none at their hands. — 
He walked serenely in the midst of a 
blood-thirsty people, strong in the 
panoply of innocence, undaunted amid 
the howlings of the tenlpe^^t, the roar 
of thunder, and the glare of light- 
ning. 

— They were entirely helpless, phys- 
ically and morally. The language 
of his soul was, ' In GOD is my salva- 
tion and my glory : the rock of my 
strength, and my refuge is in GOD.' 
'The LORD is on my side; I will 
not fear : what can man do unto mp. 1 ' 



„^ 



Geo. Thompson came as an an- 
gel of mercy, to prevent the shedding 
of human blood, by preaching the 
doctrines of the Prince of Peace — 
to engage in a moral contest, wield- 
ing none but spiritual weajions — to 
ojjpose truth to error, light to dark- 
ness, forgiveness to revenge, purity 
to pollution, mercy to cruelty, hon-V 
csty to fiaud, and freedom to despo-X 
tism. 



— He had the fire of animal excite- 
ment — the 'pomp and circumstance' 
of war — the splendid examples of an- 
cient heroes, to nerve his arm, and 
.sustain his spirit, and lead liiin on 
to battle. But when did he mani- 
fest any moral courage, or spiritual 
devotion, in the cause of God ? — _ 
What heinous sin did he oppose ] 
What popular vice did he denounce T 
What did he oppose to violence but 
violence 1 to blows but blows 1 to the 
sword but the sword 1 



— His soul was warmed by the glow 
of holy zeal, and sustained by a stead- 
fast faith in the promises of God — 
but no outward show attended his ca- 
reer — nothing of the glitter of arms, 
the roll of drums, the confused noise 
of battle, or the renown of physical 
triumph. It was his task to warn, re- 
buke, and persuade a guilty nation — 
to encounter the combined malice 
and fury of all the ungodly — to con- 
flict with terrible prejudices — to go 
through the fires of persecution — and 
to return good for evil, forgiveness 
for injury, and blessing for cursing. 



vu 

We might extend tlie comparison. Is moral coinage &uperior to jiliysi- 
call Are gpiritiial weapons better than carnall Are the victories of truth 
moi-e glorious tiian those of brute forcel Is it nobler to espouse ll;c cause 
of the poor and needy, the manacled and tlie dumb, whose bodies and souls 
are bartered for gold, than to aid those who labor only under slight disa- 
bilities 1 Is it more godlike to urge the patient endurance of wrong, and 
forgiveness of enemies, than to stir up the oppressed to deeds ol vengeance'? 
Is it more honorable to bear the cross of Christ, amid the jeers and asaults 
of an evil world, than to incur the hazard and toil of warl Is pure disin- 
terestedness more clearly manifested in advocating the rights of those who 
can make no returns of gratitude, than in associating with those who are 
able to offer every demonstration of attachment 1 In all these aspects, was" "\ 
the merciful enterprise of George Thompson incomparably superior to the ( 
warlike co-opeiation of Lafayette. So will all time and all eternity— so ) 
do God and his word decide. ^ 

From the days of Martin Luther to the present time, we may look in 
vain for a loftier specimen of enlightened zeal for God, and tender sympa- 
thy for bleeding humanity— for higher evidence of christian devotion, un- 
daunted heroism, stern integrity, and self-denying conduct— than was pre- 
sented m the case of our English brother. Like Paul, he was ' in journey- 
ings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, [men-stealers, the most 
guilty and ferocious of all robbers,] in perils by the heathen, [christian ad- 
vocates and apologists of slavery, the most blame worthy of all the heath- 
en,] in perils in the city, in perils among false brethren, [those who profess 
to be followers of Christ, and yet excited the mob against him for his labors 
of love,] in weariness and painfulness, in watchings often.' Like Paul, 
too, he could sincerely say, ' I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in / 
necessities, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake.' j^ 

The mission of George Thompson to this country has furnished a splen- | 
did precedent to a righteous 'foreign interference' with national sins, 
and formed a glorious era in the history of the Anti-Slavery cause. As a 
philanthropist and Christian, he could not come to us unauthorikd, or 
with unpardonable intrusion, — though a foreigner, according to the caste 
of this world: but, in addition to the all-sufficient license, nay the impera- 
tive command, which God gives to all who are followers of his dear Son, 
to assail cruelty and oppression, and all existing abominations, at all times 
andiia^all places, at home and abroad, in this and in every other countrv, 
^^Iv. Thom[;son visited America expressly at the invitation and as the 
Agent of the New-England Anti-Slavery Society, and under the counte- i^ 
nnnce of the British and Foreign Society for the Abolition of Slavery and | 
the Slave Trade throughout the world. Jfhe Rev. Dr. Wardlaw, in the | 
course of a glowing panegyric upon iffT Thompson, bestowed at a public I 



Vlll 

/ 

meeting in Glasgow, August, 1836, said-r*^ The most decided and flatter- 
ing proof that can be given of satisfaction with an agent whom we have 
employed in one work, is to set him to another. We did so. He had 
done his duty so nobly in the home department of the great cause he had 
at heart, that, when we had achieved our object in the disenthrahnent of 
the slaves in our own dependencies, and we looked abroad upon the world 
for other fields of philanthropic effort, we naturally and unanimously turned 
our eyes to him, believing that he who had done so well at home, would 
do equally well abroad . . . When we looked to America, and resolved on 
a mission of benevolence to that land, all eyes simultaneously looked to 
George Thompson, as the man of all others most eminently fitted for the 
charge of the important and difficult task. We sent him to America. He 
went with the best wishes of the benevolent, and the fervent prayers of the 
pious. He remained in the faithful, laborious and perilous execution of 
the commission entrusted to him, as long as it could be done without the 
actual sacrifice of life — till it would have been the hardihood of insanity to 
have persisted longer. He returned. We hailed his arrival. We pri- 
vately and publicly testified our approbation of the course he had pursued. 
He has risen in my estimation, both as to personal character, and as to 
official ability and trustworthiness; and never stood higher in my regard, 
than he does at the present moment.' .. '" 

The following are additional testimonials to the eminent services and 
exalted character of Mr. Thompson. At a public meeting in Glasgow, 
January 25th, 1836, on motion of Rev. William Anderson, it was 

' Resolved, That this meeting, with unmingled delight, welcomes the re- 
turn of Mr. Thompson from America — seizes this early opportunity to 
express its high admiration of the blameless propriety, distinguished talent, 
and noble self-devotion, with which he has prosecuted the great object of 
his mission to the United States, in the face of national prejudice, interest- 
ed denunciations, and lawless violence — and feels devoutly grateful to that 
God who, amidst all such opposition, has crowned his labors with signal suc- 
cess, and through many perils, brought him again safely to these shores.' 

At the Second Annual Meeting of the Glasgow Emancipation Society, 
held on the evening of 1st March,— Rev. Dr. Wardlaw in the chair, 
— it was unanimously 

'Resolved, That this Society, in compliance with the invitation of many 
philanthropists in America, and in connection with other Societies in this 
country, having deputed Mr. Gf.orgk Thompson as their Agent to the 
United States, to co-operate with the friends of the abolition of Slavery 
there, in their efforts to awaken their countrymen to a sense of their duty 
towards more than two millions of their brethren held by them in cruel 
bondage, express their cordial approval, and high adn)iration of the pow- 
er, intrepidity, and devotion, with which, in the face of formidable oppo- 
sition, unsparing abuse, and great personal hazards, Mr. Thompson was 
enabled, by the grace of God, to pursue, and in a good measure to accom- 
plish the great object of his very arduous mission.' 



IX 



At a public meeting in Edinburgh 



* Resolved, After what has been now and formerly staled by Mr. George 
Thompson, we are fully persuaded that he has in spirit, procedure, and 
success, exceefled the most sanguine expectations of the Emancipation / 
Society — that by his firmness and prudence, zeal and perseverance in ad- 
vocating the cause of the bondmen in the United States, he has amply re- 
deemed every pledge given by him to the friends of human freedom, by 
whom he was deputed— that, amidst obloquy, peril, and physical violence, \ 
he continued to persevere, until, by the verdict of transatlantic friends, the \ 
best judges in this matter, his remaining longer would, without promoting j 
the cause, have compromised his own safety. We acknowledge the good / 
hand of Providence that has been around him, bid him cordial welcome [to / 
his native shore, renew our exjircssions of confidence in him as a talented / 
advocate of the liberties of man, and trust that a suitable field may soon be/ 
opened for the renewal of his exertions.' / 

On Thursday, the 18th August, a meeting was held in Exeter Hall, Lon- 
don,— Richard Peck, Esq. late High Sheriff of the city of London and 
the county of Middlesex, in the chair,— at which, after an eloquent address 
from Mr. Thompson, the following resolution was carried by acclamation, 
the meeting standing up : 

'Resolved, That this meeting hail with delight, the safe return of their 
distinguished countryman to his native land, and respectfully offer him their 
warm and grateful acknowledgments for his philanthropic and st-lf-denyin'^ 
labors in the United States of America, in behalf of their suflerin"^ and op- 
pressed fellow-men.' ° 

The following comments upon the return of Mr. Thompson to England 
were published in the Liberator immediately after his departure : 

He has gone ! The paragon of modern eloquence— the benefactor of two 
nations — the universal philanthropist — the servant of God, and the friend 
of all mankind— is no longer in our midst! Abandoning the field of his 
well-deserved and ever increasing popularity — bidding adieu to his native 
shores, and to a vast multitude of as dear and estimable friends as one 
man ever possessed — he committed himself, with his family, to the perils of 
the deep, and fearlessly ventured, in the cause of the bound and bleeding 
slave, to encounter the still greater perils which he was conscious awaited 
him upon these shores. It was no ordinary sacrifice of ease, preferment, 
safety, interest and popularity, that he made, when he resolved to plead the 
heaven-originated cause of universal emancipation in a land of republican 
despots and christian kidnappers. He exchanged his ease for rigorous 
hardship ; he coveted abasement more than preferment; for safety he sub- 
stituted peril; he sacrificed his interest for the pleasure of doing good; 
and he consented to leave his popularity among good men at home, that he 
might be honored with the abuse and proscription of wicked men abroad. 
His departure from England was viewed with regret and admiration by a 
nobleand philanthropic people. They would have gladly retained him in 



their midst, had they not been convinced that Providence had a great work 
for him to perform in this hemisphere : they did not love themselves less, 
but they loved the perishing slaves more. Wherever he went to bid them 
farewell, they rushed in crowds to hang upon the melting accents of his 
lips, and to pay him the respect of grateful hearts. Testimonials of their 
love were profusely showered upon him from John o' Groat to the Land's 
End. Never, perhaps, did man break through stronger ties to make him- 
self an exile, and a by-word and gazing-stock among the plunderers and 
oppressors of the human race. A physical Lafayette had come to these 
shores on a bloody errand of patriotism — and the applause of a belligerous 
world resounded like tlie voice of many waters, till the ethereal concave 
became tremulous with emotion. A moral Lafayette came hither on a mis- 
sion of peaceful liberty and holy love, and the hosts of heaven rejoiced and 
gave glory tQ God. Both excited the fear and hatred of tyrants : the for- 
mer was dreaded for his rank and influence — the latter for his christian 
courage and spiritual might. The former came equipped with carnal 
weapons, to sunder the chains of political oppression by the arm of vio- 
lence : the latter came with the whole armor of God, having his loins girt 
about with truth, and having on the breast-plate of righteousness, asd his 
feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace, and taking the 
shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of theSpirit, to efl'ect 
a two-fold emancipation, both of the body and the soul. The former slaugh- 
tered opposing forces, to vindicate the rights of man : the latter toiled un- 
ceasingly to maintain the honor of God in the peaceful deliverance of the 
captive, through conviction of sin and the spirit of repentance. The for- 
mer aimed to establish a better human government than the world had ever 
witnessed : the latter sought to enforce upon all men the perfect government 
of God. 

He has gone ! And with him will go the prayers and blessings, the grati- 
tude and love, the respect and admiration, of all those who cherish an in- 
nate and holy hatred of oppression, and who hold no fellowship with the 
unfruitful works of darkness. Around the hearts of thousands in this coun- 
try, his memory is entwined with the ties of a deathless affection : for they 
have known him, and can testify of his extraordinary worth. What a rich 
freight of gratitude would accompany him, more to be desired than the 
treasures of royal argosies, from millions who yet pine in slavery, if they 
could understand how much he has suffered and hazarded to unlose their 
fetters ! But their emnncipated descendants will not forget the debt ! 

He has gone ! But not in vain did he come hither. By his presence, and 
the power of his victorious eloquence, and the resistless energy of his move- 
ments, he has shaken the land from side to side. In one year he has ac- 
complished the labor of many. At the mention of his name, republicao 
tyrants stand aghast, and their knees smite violently against each other. 



XI 

Unable to liide the bloody stains that disfigure tlieir polhited garments — 
conscious of their full exposure to the detestation and rebuke of a horror- 
stricken world — and despairing of ever regaining an honorable reputation 
until they emancipate the victims of their lust and avarice — they have sought 
to destroy the advocates of righteous liberty, with wolf-like ferocity and 
fiendish hate. Especially have they planned to abduct and murder the man, 
who, having been signally instrumental in breaking the fetters of eight hun- 
dred thousand slaves in the British Colonies, heroically came to these shores 
to assist in emancipating a still larger number of bleeding captives. But, 
thanks be to God, he has walked unharmed through the fire which they 
kindled to consume him, and the smell thereof has not passed upon his 
garments. 

He has gone ! But not to cease from his labors in the cause of mercy. 
He has a mighty work to perform in England, and there he will toil like 
an unbound giant. With the materials which he has industriously accumu- 
lated in this country, and which he has carried with him, he cannot fail to 
rouse up and concentrate the entire sympathies and energies of the people 
of Great Britain, in opposition to American slavery; and it is by the pres- 
sure of public sentiment abroad, as well as at home, that the bloody system 
is to be tumi)led into ruinR. I.ftt the same withering public sentiment pre- 
vail throughout Christendom respecting the guilt of slaveholding, as now 
obtains in opposition to the diabolical slave trade, and the day of jubilee 
will be uslictc! in widiout delay. Our pride, as a nation, will not be able 
much longer to bear the taunts and jeers of the world, in view of our hy- 
pocrisy, falsehood and oppression ; and our consciences, seared though they 
be as with a hot iron, will yet be awakened to remorse and repentance by 
the thunders of Sinai and the melting accents of Calvary. The Christians 
ef Great Britain, of all denoniinations, will multiply their warnings, rebukes 
and-exhortations to their brethren in this country, — and not in vain. 
/He has gone ! The dagger of a murderous nation has been pointed at his 
heart, and he has been hunted like a 'partridge upon the mountains. He 
came to us on an errand of mercy, drawn by the ties of Christ; and spared 
no pains to bring us to repentance for our manifold transgressions. To 
flatter us was easy — but he loved the truth and hated falsehood. He would 
not sufler sin upon us, because he loved us in his heart, and would have laid 
down his life for oKr salvation. Yet he was pursued like a wild beast, his 
name cast out as evil, and he was reckoned among the enemies of the re- 
public ! He has gone ! But the foreign MAN-MONKEY remains behind, 
to show us how exactly he can grin like an ape, look like an ape, 
climb and chatter like an ape, and finally die like an ape — and his popu- 
larity and patronage are increasing daily ! He .is no emissary — no enemy 
— but an acquisition to liberty and equality I-T^Alluding to a French har- 
lequin then performing in this country in the character of a monkej. 



Xll 

^0^ The following Letter should have been inserted in the body of the 
work, preceding that which will be found on page 106. It refers to the 
mob in Boston, October 21st, 1835. 

"Thursday afternoon, Oct. 22, 1835. 
My beloved brother Garrison : 

The news has reached me of yesterday's proceedings in Boston. I re- 
joice that you have escaped the jaws of the lion, and are yet among the 
living — the living to praise God. To Him let us render our humble ac- 
knowledgements. May you be sustained under your present afflictions, and 
survive to behold the triumph of those principles which you have for some 
year? lived only to advocate! I sympathise with you, and every sufferer in 
our holy cause, and could almost envy you the honor of having been assailed 
by a blood-thirsty multitude. Put your trust in that Being who smiles at 
the wrath of men, and will cause it to advance his glory. After all, what 
have our enemies donel what have their tar and feathers, their demolitions, 
their lacerations, scourgings and hangings effected^ Have they extinguished 
the truth 7 No. Have they shaken our principles ? No. Have they proved 
wrong to he right ; falsehood, truth ; cruelty, kindness j or slavery, 
liberty 7 No. Have they shaken the throne of the Eternal 1 Have they 
stopped the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth, that the cry of the slave cannot 
enter 1 No ! None of these things have occurred. Ouvprincijyles live, and 
are triumphing in every direction. The God of the American slave sits 
high on his throne, counting the sighs and groans of his people, and will 
come down to deliver. Abolitionists live, and multiply, and daily wax 
stronger and stronger in the work of mercy they have laid hold upon, nor 
can any scourges our enemies can plait, nor any gibbets they can erect, be 
aught but the emblem of their own infatuation and madness. 
-■'1^ think I seelhe end of these outbreakings. The opposcrs of this cause 
have themselves a bitter lesson to learn. They will rouse a spirit which 
will speedily turn and rend theq:!, when it is too late to prevent it. Let 
them make mob-law paramount to all other law, and those respectable 
instigators will at no distant day be destroyed by the recoil of their own 
weapons. 

Our cause advances rapidly, majestically, and gloriously — who can stay 
its course 1 

I have not time to write more. My heart is with you. As the soul of 
Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, so is my soul to your soul. Your 
joys, sorrows, perils, persecutions, friends and foes, are mine. May God 
direct us in this crisis, and enable us with meekness and wisdom to do his 
perfect will, and cheerfully suffer every thing which awaits us. 

Your unalterably attached friend and brother, 

GEO. THOMPSON.' 



LECTURE AT LOWELL, MASS. 

On Sunday evening, October 5th, George Thompsok, 
Esq. the abolitionitst, delivered a lecture on Slavery in the 
Town Hall, Lowell. The spacious room was filled some 
time before the commencement of the proceedings, and 
when Mr. Thompson began his lecture, there were up- 
wards of one thousand persons present. The meeting was 
opened with singing and prayer. 

The following is a faint sketch of Mr. Thompson's dis- 
course, which occupied an hour and three quarters in the 
delivery. 

He (the lecturer) felt truly grateful for the present very 
favorable opportunity of discussing before an American 
audience, the merits and bearings of a question, which, 
more than any other that could agitate their minds, was 
connected with the honor, happiness, and prosperity of 
the people of this land. He besought a kind, patient, and 
attentive hearing. He asked no favor for his doctrines, 
his arguments, or his opinions. Let these be subjected to 
the severest ordeal. Let them be tested by reason, truth 
and scripture, and if they squared not with the dictates 
and requirements of these, let them be repudiated. The 
West Indies had already witnessed the operation of the great 
measure, which tlie justice and humanity of the British 
Nation had obtained for the slave. All eyes were now 
turned towards the United States of America, to see if that 
land of Liberty, of Republicanism, of Bibles, of Missions, 
of Temperance Societies, and Revivals, would direct her 
matchless energies to the blessed work of enfranchising 
her slaves, and elevating her entire colored population. 

As a feeble and unworthy instrument in the hand of 
Him, without whom there was neither wisdom, nor 
strength, nor goodness, he (Mr. T.) had come amongst 
1 



» LECTURE 

them to tell of the conflicts and triumphs he had witnessed 
in his native land, and to encourage, and, if possible, aid 
his brethern here in the accomplishment of a similarly 
great and glorious object. His was no sectarian or politi- 
cal embassay. Higher and broader principles than those 
of politics or party animated and sustained him. He came 
not to uphold the dogmas of a faction, or to expound the 
charter of human rights according to the latitude, longi- 
tude, clime, or color. As a citizen of the world, he 
claimed brotherhood with all mankind. The medium 
through which he contemplated the varied tribes of this peo- 
pled earth, was one which blended all hues, and brought 
out only the proud and awful distinctive mark of one com- 
mon nature — ' the image of God.' He honored that 
'image' in whomsoever he found it, and would labor lest a 
prize so glorious should be lost, lest a being so capable 
should be wretched here and forever. Such were the 
views he cherished, and the principles he maintained, and 
he hoped he should be enabled to discuss them with temper 
and christian charity. He knew that men were all com- 
pounded of the same common elements — all sinful, erring 
and guilty; and, therefore, it became not any human being 
to assume the tone of innocence or infallibility, but to ad- 
dress himself to others as their fellow sinner, and be grate- 
ful to God, if divine grace had caused him in any degree 
to differ from the rest. He deemed such feelings perfect- 
ly consistent with a fearless denunciation of vicious prin- 
ciples and oppressive practices. Towards sin in every 
form, no mercy should be shown. A war of extermination 
should be waged with the works of the devil, under all 
their manifold and delusive appearances, and that man was" 
the truest and kindest friend of the sinner, who, with 
a bold and unsparing hand, dragged forth to light and con- 
demnation the abomination that would have ruined his soul. 
After this introduction, the lecturer took a compendious 
view of slavery as its exists in the Southern States. He 
spoke of it as reducing man to the condition of a thing — 
a chattel personal — a marketable brute — the property and 
fee simple of his fellow-man — consigning the helpless victim 
to bondage, wretchedness, ignorance and crime here, and 
ruining his soul forever and ever. The lecturer next pro- 
ceeded to speak of the prevailing prejudice against the free 



AT LOWELL, 3 

people of color, and attributed it principally to an anti- 
christian and guilty feeling of pride. That this prejudice 
did not originate in a natural repugnance to color, was 
evident from the fact, that while the colored person remain- 
ed in a state of civil and intellectual degradation, no indis- 
position was shown to the nearest physical approach. Itl 
w^as only when the colored person attempted to rise in in-f 
tellect or station to a level with the white, that the hatred 
and prejudice appeared. He (Mr. T.) solemnly and affec- 
tionately exhorted all who heard him to renounce their 
cruel and unholy antipathies. This prejudice was an of- 
fence against God. The controversy was not with him 
who wore the colored skin, but with the being who had 
formed him with it. Who was bold enough to stand before 
God, and vindicate the prejudice which dishonored and 
defaced the image and superscription of the Deity, as 
stamped upon his creature man ? 

Such was the state of things in these christian States. 
What was the remedy ? The immediate emancipation of 
the whites from prpjiidlce, and the blacks from slavery. 
Mercy implored it. Justice demanded it. Reason dictat- 
ed it. Religion required it. Necessity urged it. j 

Fear cried, 'No! The r/aw^er uf immediate emanci- ! 
pation !' 1 

Prejudice exclaimed, 'You want to amalgamate the ra- \ 
ces — to break the cast — to lift the blacks into our ranks, i 
It must not be !' 'N 

A misguided Patriotism spread the alarm, 'The Union C 
is in danger!' / 

Interest muttered, ' You will ruin our manufactures — 
you will destroy our commerce — you will beggar the 
planter !' 

Despotism vociferated, ' Let my victims alone ! Rob me 
not of my dominion !' and a 

Mistaken philanthrophy would set on foot a piecemeal * 
reformation, and recommend gradualism for the special ben- > 
efit of the pining slave. J 

Whom, then, should they obey? He boldly answered, 
God ; who required that men should ' cease to do evil.' 
But that he might not be accused of dealing only in abstract 
views of this question, he would take up the various ob- 
jections to immediate emancipation, and endeavor to show 



4 LECTURE 

that in the eye of reason and selfishness too, they were 
groundless and absurd. 

Mr. Thompson proceeded to prove the safety, practicabil- 
ity and advantages of immediate emancipation. It would 
be impossible to do justice to this part of the lecture in this 
brief notice. 

The question was frequently asked, ' Why should New 
England interfere in the slave-system of the South?' Be- 
cause, said Mr. T., the slaves are your fellow-men — they 
are your neighbors, and you are commanded to love them 
as yourselves, and to remember them in bonds as bound 
with them. They are your fellow-citizens — declared to be 
so by your glorious Declaration of Independence. You 
supply the South, and therefore are connected with this 
trade of blood. You consume the produce of the South, 
and thus effectually promote the cause of oppression there. 
You are taxed to maintain the Slavery of the South. You 
are in the habit of giving up the slaves of the South who 
seek refuge amongst you. Your colored citizens are liable 
to be seized and sold, if they go to the South. You live 
under the same Constitution as the South, and are there- 
fore bound to amend that constitution, if it be at present 
unjust in any of its parts. Your Congress has supreme 
control over the District of Columbia, Arkansas, and Flor- 
ida, and you ought, therefore, to call for the immediate ex- 
tinction of Slavery in these places. You exert a powerful 
influence over the South and the States generally. You 
are able to control the destinies of the slaves in this coun- 
try. You are responsible to God for the employment of 
your moral energies. Come, then, to the work. First, 
let the question be fairly discussed amongst you. Do not 
be afraid to entertain it. Sooner or later, you must grap- 
ple with it. The speedier the better. Discard your pre- 
judices. Give up your pre-conceived opinions, and bring 
to the consideration of this great subject, open and impar- 
tial minds, — a tender regard for the interests of your fellow- 
man, — a sincere and enlightened desire for your country's 
true honor and greatness, and a deep sense of your ac- 
countability to God. 

Mr. Thompson next addressed the ladies present, and 
urged the necessity of their engaging in this work of mer- 
cy. It was not a political, but a moral and religious ques- 



AT LOWELL. 



tion. All were called upon to labor in the cause — all were 
able to do so. While some preached and lectured on the 
subject, others could distribute tracts, collect contributions, 
and converse with their friends. The principles of justice 
and truth would thus be diffused — prejudice and ignorance 
would give way, and an amount of influence finally creat- 
ed, sufficient to purge the stain of slavery forever from the 
land. 

Mr. Thompson was listened to throughout with the most 
profound attention, and every appearance of deep interest. 
The Rev. Messrs. Rand, Twining, and Pease, were pres- 
ent. At the conclusion of the lecture, the last named gen- 
tleman gave out a hymn suited to the occasion, which was 
sung by the choir, and after a benediction had been pro* 
nounced, the audience separated. 



(6) 



RExMARKS OF MR. THOMPSON. 

The folJoroing is a slcicli of Mr. Thompson's remarks, de- 
livered cit the adjourned incetinff of the New England 
Anti-Slavcrij Society, held in Boston, October 9, 1834. 

I have always found it a peculiarly difficult task to ad- 
dress an assembly like the present. Strange as it may ap- 
pear, I am generally tongue-tied when in the midst of 
friends. During my short career, I have had to deal with 
much opposition. I have had to contend with the foes of 
human freedom — the upholders and abettors of slavery ; 
but thanks to the goodness of my cause, and the strength 
and number of those arguments which are always at hand 
to maintain it, I have seldom failed to find something to 
say. But I confess that now, when I find myself amongst 
the earliest friends and foremost championsof this righteous 
cause — amongst tliosc who have been the pioneers in this 
glorious campaign, and are, therefore, more intimately ac- 
quainted than I can be, with the trials and the tactics of 
the war, I feel myself reduced to almost dwarfish dimen- 
sions, and would gladly take tlie lowly seat my humble merits 
assign me. As the representative, however, of a kindred 
host who have fought nnd conquered in another depart- 
ment of the same field, I consider myself warranted to ad- 
dress to you a few words ; and, speaking of them, I shall 
be freed from the embarrassment I should experience, if 
obliged to refer exclusively to myself. 

In the name of the abolitionists of Great Britain, then, 
let me congratulate you upon the noble, the unexampled 
stand you have made in the cause of freedom. Multitudes 
on the other side of the Atlantic have watched, with thrill- 
ing interest, your progress hitherto. A few years ago, 
and slavery in this Union rioted in unchecked dominion, 
unassailed by one bold, vigorous and uncompromising an- 
tagonist. I say not that all were then the friends of sla- 
very. No : thousan ds hated it, and in secret mourned over 



REMARKS. 7 

its triuhiplied abominations ; but there was found no one 
undaunted enough to proclaim aloud upon the house-top, 
and in the highways of this people, that it was the duty 
of America to open tlie prison doors and let the oppressed 
go free — in a word, to denounce slaveholding as a foul and 
heinous crime, and call for immediate, cjitire, and uncondi- 
tional emancipation. In the meantime, a plan had been 
devised to gather up and appropriate the- wide-spread sym- 
pathies of the nation. In an evil hon;,-the hand of preju- 
dice opened a channel wide enough tcf allow the senti- 
ments, feelings and energies of all classes to flow onwards 
together. This channel was the American Colonization 
Society, through which flowed, for many years, the mingled 
waters of oppression, prejudice, philanthrophy, and reli- 
gion. It passed through the New England States, and 
many were the tributary streams which helped to swell its 
tide. It deepened and widened as it went, until at last it 
had^secured the smile|of the slave holder — the zealous co- 
operation of the prejudiced — the warmest wishes of the 
benevolent — the prayers of the pious — and the contribu- 
tions of all ; — and the high and the mighty, the senator 
and the clergyman, the infidel and the christian, the slave- 
oppressor and the slave-defender, the tradesman and the 
mechanic floated proudly and self-complaeently upon its 
bosom, upborne and wafted onwards by elements as hete- 
rogeneous and delusive as any ever assembled together. 
What, however, appeared a sea of glory and a gale of pros- 
perity to the white man, was viewed by the colored man as 
the whirlwind of oppression, and the vortex of destruction. 
During this reign of prejudice and oppression, there arose 
a man bold enough to undertake the perilous work of con- 
tending with the insidious foes and mistaken friends of the 
colored race. The work was gigantic, and all but hope- 
less ; but he was not appalled. Much was to be undone, 
and much to be done, ere the public mind could be disa- 
bused of error, and brought to view the great question in 
the light of Truth. The scheme of Colonization phased 
all. It gratified prejudice — soothed the conscience — left 
slavery uncondemned and unmolested — while it professed 
to promote the freedom and happiness of the free colored 
population, and at the same time advance the interests of 
Africa, by preventing the slave-trade along her coast, and 



8 REMARKS. 

diffusing the blessings of the gospel amongst her benighted 
tribes. On the contrary, the doctrines of immediate eman- 
cipation, ivithout expatriation, and the admission of the 
colored man into the unabridged privileges of the constitu- 
tion, were calculated to ojend all — and raise the outcry of 

* Robbery !' * Amalgamation !' * The Union is in dan- 
ger !' &c. &c. .And. it was so. It was soon seen that if 
these doctrines oUtained, not only was the ' craft' of the 
slaveholder * in da^e<,' but also the temple of the great 
goddess Diana {mkis the ^American Colonization Society) 
would ' be despised, and Irer magnificence destroyed, whom 
air America * and tllfe world worshipped.' ' When they 
heard the sayings of this man, they were full of wrath, and 
cried out, saying, " Great is J)iana of the Ephesians!" ' 

* And the whole city was filled with confusion.' And 

* they rushed with one accord into the theatre.'* ' Some 
cried one thing, and some another ; for the assembly was 
confused : and the more part knew not wherefore they 
came together.' But they all agreed in shouting for 'about 
the space of two hours, Great is Diana of the Ephesians!' 
Notwithstanding all this fury, the cause of Truth and Jus- 
tice went foward gloriously, and we are witnesses this 
day of the marvellous revolution which has been effected 
in public opinion. The 'craft' is indeed, 'in danger.' 
the great 'goddess' is already * despised,' ' and her macr- 
nificence destroyed.' The subject of immediate emanci- 
pation which once might not be discussed — no, not even in a 
whisper, is now the topic of conversation and debate from 
one extremity of your Union to the other. A spirit of en- 
quiry is abroad, and vain as well as wicked are the attempts 
to extinguish it. It will increase and continue until the 
whole truth is investigated, and the investigation will infal- 
libly lead to a conviction of the practicability, safety and 
necessity of Immediate Emancipation. Your present po- 
sition is a splendid and encouraging ])roof of what may be 
done by one man, when he boldly asserts the principles of 
eternal rectitude. 

The events which have transpired in this country during 

* The appo.sitenpss of Mr. Tliompson'ii quotation from Acts,19tli ch.ipter, 
will be seen in reference to the p^^hli!^l)ed accounts of the diritiul)ance9 in 
New York in December hist, when Chatham-gtreet Chapel (once a theatre) 
was attacked aad broken int« by the mob. 



REMARKS 



9 



the last four years, have heeji regarded in Great Britain 
with the deepest interest. -At first, many were dazzled 
and beguiled by the specious representations given of the 
principles and operations of the Colonization Society, but 
the exposures of that Society by Capt. Stuart, and Mr. 
Cropper, and lastly, by our devoted brother Mr. Garrison, 
during his visit to our country, have caused its doctrines^ ,^ 
to be almost universally repudiated. There is every dispo- <m 
sition among British abolitionists to extend to you their^^ 
sympathy, their counsel, and their contributions. My pre- 
sence amongst you to-day is a proof and a pledge of their 
desire and determination to be associated with you, in your 
hallowed enterprize. -In thiis tendering you our help, we 
disclaim the remotest intention of interfering to an unwar- 
rantable extent in the politicalquestions of your country. 
Ours is a question of morals, humanity, and religion. We 
are the friends of mankind universally, and have made an 
appeal to christians throughout all the world, to join with 
us in abolishing slavery and the slave-tr^de, wherever they 
exist. In doing so, we believe we have a saucliun and 
commission from Heaven, and we long for the day, when 
in this country there shall no longer be heard the clank of 
fetters Tind the moan of the oppressed ; but freed from the 
guilt of slavery and prejudice, you will be united with us 
in the blessed work of carrying the tidings of redemption to 
the ends of the^earth.' 

Mr. Thompsonj^roceeded to give an account of the for- 
mation in London of a ' British and Foreign Society for 
promoting the Abolitjon of Slavery and the Slave Trade 
throughout the world,' and read several extracts, explana- 
tory of its principles and proposed plans of operation. 

' I have thus (said Mr. T.) very briefly glanced at what 
has been done, and is still doing, both here and in Great 
Britain. We stand, however, but upon the threshold of the 
great work of universal freedom. In this country, you 
have but barely commenced. Take courage, however, 
and go forward. The hottest part of the battle is to come. 
Colonizationism is not yet dead. Follow up your blows un- 
til it gives up the ahost, and its mis-shapen trunk is buried 
from your sight. You have yet to cor>tend with slavehold- 
ers, their kind'red, friends, agents and mercenaries ; with 
those who supply the south; with' the haters of the colored 



10 REMARKS. 

population ; with a fierce and malignant press ; with mis- 
taken philanthropists ; with fearful abolitionists ; with 
thousands of christians who apologize for slavery ; and 
with ignorance and apathy, in every direction. Let none 
of these things dismay you. Let your measures be bold 
and uncompromising, yet governed by wisdom and charity. 
The struggle will be hard, but victory is certain. A few 
short years will sweep away the frail fabrics which igno- 
rance, prejudice, and dim-sighted expediency have reared 
upon this blood-bought soil ; but your principles, like a 
foundation of adamant, will remain unsullied and unmoved, 
and the lapse of ages will only reveal to the world, in the 
light of a clearer demonstration, the divinity of their origin, 
and the immutability of their duration,' 



( 11 ) 

LETTER PROM PORTLAND. 

Portland, (Me.) Oct. 28, 1834. 
My Dear Garrison, 

It is now more than a fortniglit since I parted with you 
in Boston, on my way to the Anti-Slavery Convention at 
Augusta. The time has rolled rapidly away. Each day has 
brought with it duties and occupations, which have either 
absorbed the mind in the study and discussion of the ' great 
question,' or engaged the feelings of the heart in commu- 
nion with those who are nobly seeking the welfare of the 
oppressed. Besides the claims exerted by kind friends and 
solemn duties upon the heart and head, the eye has been 
continually arrested by some new object. Wherever I 
have travelled, by land or by water, I have been constantly 
reminded that I am in Ne20 and not Old England. The 
size, beauty, construction, and management of your unri- 
valled steam vessels: — the splendid autumnal tints of your 
forest foliage ; — the appearance of your cities and towns, 
as they are seen from the deck of one of your floating pal- 
aces, as she proudly approaches the port, ' walking the 
water like a thing of life;' — your stage coaches and tav- 
ern accommodations; — your hedgeless fields, covered with 
antediluvian fragments, or the stumps of hundreds of de- 
molished trees, or plentiful crops of Indian corn and pump- 
kins ; — the garbs and vehicles of your happy, enterprising 
and independent Yankee farmers ; — your beautifulmeeting- 
houses, every where visible, tlieir modest spires directing 
the mind of the thoughtful traveller upward to nature's 
God ; — All these novel and striking scenes, calculated to 
interest, most deeply, every intelligent stranger. In my 
mind they have awakened new and strong emotions. 
Nor have I been less affected by the more romantic por- 
tions of the scenes I have witnessed. Every thing is full 
of thrilling association and historical interest. Already, 
in imafi^ination, I have lived a thousand years upon your 
soil. I have roamed the banks of the Kennebeck and the 



12 LETTER 

Penobscot with the Indian hunter ; — I have plunged with 
him into your pathless woods, 

' Where rang of old the rifle shot; ' 

have mingled with the untutored worshippers of the 
'Great Spirit; — have listened to the eloquence of barba- 
rian sages, and witnessed the deeds and death of genera- 
tions, whose kindlier fate it was to * have their being ' ere 
science guided the white man to those shores, and the 
hand of an insatiate dominion commenced by the guilty 
work of conquest, robbery, and extermination. I have 
passed downwards through the bloody period of your po- 
litical regeneration, and have caught a spark of genuine 
patriotism from off the purest altar on which its hallowed 
fire was ever seen to glow — the heart of Washington. I 
have lived through ages yet to come. I have seen this peo- 
ple rise like Nineveh of old ; and * proclaim a fast, and put 
on sackcloth and ashes, from the greatest even to the least; 
and cry miglitily to God, and turn every one from his 
evil way, and from the violence that is in his hands.' I 
have heard the omnipotent voice of Justice thundering in 
th^^ Capitol, and echoing from the Halls of Legislation in 
the South. I have seen exulting millions trample in the 
dust the galling chain of an execrated tyranny, and with 
uplifted hands invoke the blessing of God on a nation, that 
had at last broke ' every yoke,' and set ' the oppressed free.' 
But I will forbear to describe further the visions I have 
had of the past and the future, and return to speak of re- 
cent efforts in which I have been honored to join — efforts, 
to bring near the day of redemption, which, in fancy, I 
have already realized. 

Siindai/, Oct. 12. I spent this day in Portland. In the 
morning, I accompanied Gen. Fessenden to the meeting- 
house of the Third Parish, and heard a very excellent 
sermon preached by the Rev. Mr. Dwiglit. In the after- 
noon I enjoyed the privilege of addressing a congregation 
of colored persons in the Abyssinian church. This was the 
first time I had ever worshipped in a place, exclusively ap- 
propriated to colored persons ; nor had I ever, on any oc- 
casion, seen so many assembled together. I analyzed my 
mind, with some anxiety, to discern, if, in these entirely 



FROM PORTLAND. 13 

new circumstances, any feelings of prejudice or dislike 
were called forth. I can with truth declare, that I expe- 
rienced none. The attention paid to the services was ap- 
parently deep. The deportment of all, decent and de- 
vout. The singing good ; and the whole appearance of 
the audience that of intelligence and respectability. In 
the evening I lectured in the First Christian church. The 
audience numbered upwards of 1200. I was heard with 
the greatest patience and attention for upwards of two 
hours. 

Monday, 13. Proceeded with Mr. Phelps to Bruns- 
wick, and iui the evening lectured in the Rev. Mr. Tit- 
comb's church, to a numerous and respectable auditory. 
The students from Bowdoin College were all present. 

TttesdoT/, 14. Left Brunswick, and reached Hallowell 
about 6 o'clock. 

Wednesdnij, 15. Went to Augusta, the Capital of thig 

state. At 11, the Anti-Slavery Convention assembled. 

I was introduced by a very kind and flattering speech from 
Gen. Fessenden ; and on his motion, was elected a corres- 
ponding member of the Convention. In the evening, I 
delivered a somewhat long address. Was very hospitalDly 
entertained by the Rev. Mr. Tappan. Some remarks of 
mine, during the speech referred to, gave offence to a cer- 
tain party in the town ; and the first manifestation of 
their displeasure, was to visit the house of my host, about 
1 or 2 o'clock in the morning, and break nine or ten 
squares of glass. 

Thiirsdai/, IG. Attended the morning meeting of the 
Convention. A little before 1, was called out of the 
Convention by Mr. Tappan, and informed ih^i Jive gentle- 
men were in an anti-room wailing to see me. On beino- 
introduced to them, they said that they came from a meet- 
ing of citizens, that morning held, to inform me, that 
my speech of the previous night, had given great offence 
— that I was regarded as a foreign emissary, an officious 
intermeddler, &c. 6^c. — and that, therefore, I should not 
be permitted to attend the afternoon sitting of the Conven- 
tion, but must leave the town hnmediately. I returned a 
calm and respectful answer, declining, however, to say 
whether I should comply with the * Notice to quit.* At 
dinner, I consulted with some friends, and it was finally 



14 LETTER 

arranged that 1 should abide at Mr. Tappan's until the 
remainino- business of the Convention was transacted, and 
then retire to Hallovvell, the neighboring town, and lecture 
there in the evening. Daring the afternoon sitting, the 
Convention passed a resolution, unanimously welcoming 
me to this country, and recommending me to the confi- 
dence and hospitable attention of the Christian commu- 
nity. At 5, I bid farewell to Augusta. At 7, I lec- 
tured in the Baptist church, Hallovvell, to a very numer- 
ous and attentive auditory. A number of my opponents 
from Augusta were present. The people of Ilallowell, 
Jiowever, had determined, that no 'foreign interference ' 
should prevent them from hearing my address. I was 
therefore permitted to lecture in peace, and I have since 
heard, that my address produced a good impression. 

Fridmj, 17. At 10 o'clock Mr. Grosvenor of Salem, 
Mr. Bacon, and myself, started for Waterville. On arriv- 
ing at the College, we. were very warmly greeted by Pro- 
fessor Newton. In the evening, I lectured in the Baptist 
Church to a very large auditory, including all the students 
from the College. The utmost attention was paid to my 
address, which lasted two hours. 

Saturday, 18. Saw a number of the students. Re- 
ceived a letter and some verses, expressive of the feelings 
of all the students towards me, and wishing me ' God 
speed,' in my labors in this land. The Secretary of the 
Anti-Slavery Society in the College, writing to Mr. 
Phelps, says, — ' Mr. Thomps.on had a large congregation 
last evening, and. our students enthusiastically admire him. 
His coming here, brought over all that remained in the 
College, at least.' General Fessenden of this place, who 
was at Waterville with me, and has two sons in the Col- 
lege, told me last night, that afior my lecture, six students 
who had previously opposed the abolitionists, requested per- 
mission to sign the Constitution of the Anti-Slavery So- 
ciety, and be promoters of the cause they had hitherto 
withstood. Thirty-nine of the students became monthly 
subscribers of 12^- cents to the funds of the American An- 
ti-Slavery Society, making a total of about 59 dollars a 
year. 

Monday, 20. Brunswick. In the morning, at 12, Mr. 
Phelps and myself met upwards of seventy students in the 



FROM PORTLAND. 15 

College chapel, and had a familiar conversation respecting 
various disputed points — the students proposed questions, 
and we answered them. In the afternoon, at 2, we held 
a small meeting at the Conference Room, in the village, 
where we had a very interesting conversation with a se- 
lect company. In the evening, at 7, I lectured in the 
Baptist church to a full house. 

Tuesday, 21. In the morning, at eight, we met up- 
wards of one hundred students in the College chapel, and 
had a second friendly discussion on various points connect- 
ed with the question. They seemed exceedingly sorry 
that we were obliged to depart in the course of that day. 
At 1 o'clock, we left for Portland. 

Wednesday , 22. Held a meeting in the evening in the 
Friends' meeting house. The place was crowded. Speech- 
es were made by the Rev. Mr. Adams of Brunswick, Mr. 
Phelps, Mr. Grosvenor of Salem, and myself There is 
reason to believe, that some were converted, and many 
others half won over. 

Thursday, 28. In the afternoon, at 3, about 120 
ladies assembled in the Friends' meeting-house, and were 
addressed by the gentlemen named above. The ladies 
agreed to meet again on Saturday afternoon. I have no 
doubt that a flourishing society will be established among 
the ladies of this city. In the evening, at 7, I met the 
Committees of the two male Anti-Slavery Societies in this 
place. Mr. Phelps and myself were earnestly requested 
to prolong our visit, and hold meetings as often as possi^ 
ble. Mr. Phelps agreeing to stay as long as I would, and 
feeling a conviction that we might be useful, I consented 
to delay my departure for a few days. 

Friday, 24. In the evening, Mr. Phelps and myself 
held a meeting in the meeting-house of the Third Parish, 
and delivered addresses. The audience was very numer- 
ous, respectable, and attentive. 

Saturday, 25. In the afternoon, at 3 o'clock, we had 
a large audience of ladies in the above church. Long ad- 
dresses were delivered by Mr. Phelps and myself. 

Sunday, 26. In the evening, at 7, lectured in the 
Second Christian church. Although the weather was 
most inclement, the church was filled, 



16 LETTER FROM PORTLAND. 

Monday, 27. Met the colored people in the Abyssin- 
ian church. Prayers were offered by the Rev. Messrs. 
Coe and Blackman ; also by the Rev. Mr. Munro, colored 
ministers. Mr. Phelps and myself gave addresses. The 
attendance was exceedingly good. We pointed out to our 
colored brethren the great necessity of their exhibiting a 
pure and blameless conduct, both for their own sake and for 
the good of the cause of emancipation, which might be 
materially advanced or retarded according to the impres- 
sion made upon the public mind by their public and pri- 
vate demeanor. 

You have now before you a very brief notice of my pro- 
ceedings during the last sixteen days. These days have 
to me been full of interest and instruction. Proofs are 
every where abundant, that the cause of Truth is spread- 
ing mightily. It must, I think, greatly cheer you, my dear 
brotJier, to see the principles, which, a {^w years ago, you 
advocated almost alone, and in the face of danger, perse- 
cution, and poverty, thus going forth in their omnipotence 
— promising soon to pervade the whole land, and pull down 
the strong holds of robbery and oppression. Let us go 
onward. God is with us. While lyriiuiiplc is our guide, 
no weapon formed against us will prosper. Let us beware 
of ' expediency.' It is the harlot on whose knees too many 
good and great men sleep, and are shorn of their strength. 

That you may soon see the desire of your heart, in the re- 
demption of your beloved country from the twin abomina- 
tions of Prejudice and Slavery, is the prayer of 
Yours, affectionately, 

GEO. THOMPSON. 



( 17 ) 



LETTER FROM GEN. FESSENDEN : 

To the Editor of the JV. Y. Evangelist. 

Portland, Me., Nov. 2, 1384. 

As you have already received and published a correct 
account of the formation of a State A. S. Society for Maine, 
an event which diffuses general joy among the friends of 
the cause of immediate abolition, and increases the hopes 
of its advocates, I do not recur to the event for any other 
object, than as it was the occasion of drawing into this 
State that distinguished friend of the cause, George Thomp- 
son, Esq. 

I had the pleasure of attending most of his lectures 
while among us, and cannot but say, I feel thankful to 
God, who has inclined his heart to embark in the mighty 
undertaking of the emancipation o^ American slaves, hav- 
ing in conjunction with the great and good, achieved the 
emancipation of British slaves. Next to Him, ' who holds 
the hearts of men in his hands, and turns them as the 
rivers of waters are turned,' I feel grateful to Mr. T., who 
has given himself liberally to the work, and to those 
beloved philanthropists who have furnished the means of 
his coming. Never, in my humble judgment, was an in- 
dividual better qualified for the mighty task which he has 
come to aid than is Mr. T. Every word every action affords 
strong evidence that he enters on his labors with a 
heart overflowing with Christian philanthropy, and devoted 
to the God-like cause which he has come to sustain and 
enforce. 

I place first among his qualifications as an advocate of 
abolition, the spirit of Christ with which he is, most evi- 
dently, deeply imbued, and which he breathes forth in 
every address, and I might add, in almost every sentence. 
On his tongue, is emphatically the law of kindness. Thig 
is as it should be. Next his powers of mind are evidently 
of a superior order. And if you add the gifts and graces 
2* 



18 LETTER FROM 

of a thorough systematic education, it must necessarily 
follow that he must be a powerful advocate of any cause 
to which he might devote his attention, and upon which 
he should bring such a mind to bear. He has — great, 
complicated, delicate, and I might say overwhelming as 
it is — completely mastered the subject. It must have been 
considered by him in its infinitely important relations, both 
to time and eternity, with a clearness of perception which 
is the result of the combined agency of pure and elevated 
religious affections, and^a powerful and discriminating in- 
tellect. That Mr. Thompson should possess a very thor- 
ough knowledge of the evils of slavery generally, and of 
its appropriate remedies, I was prepared to expect ; but I 
was not prepared to see him display such a thorough and 
intimate acquaintance with the constitution and laws, and 
genius of our government, if I may use the expression, and 
with the constitution and laws of the slaveholding states, 
as he has evidently acquired. He seems to be as familiar 
with them all as one born and educated upon the soil pol- 
luted by this mightiest of evils — this most flagrant of sins. 
He seems like one who has traced this system through all 
its labyrinths of iniquity, to its polluted source ; and to 
have uncovered its dark streams, and to exhibit to the mor- 
al and mental eye how it gushes from the grand reservoir 
of all plagues, the bottomless pit. 

Such a man, on such a subject, cannot fail to be eloquent. 
Mr. Thompson is truly so. I think all who have heard him, 
both the friends and enemies of the cause, will sustain me 
in this. If to convince the understanding, to captivate 
the heart and engage the affections is eloquence, then Mr. 
T. is eloquent. 

You will pardon me for adverting to the manner in which 
Mr. T. manages the question, and which bears me out in 
saying that he must prove a powerful agent in the accom- 
plishment of the emancipation of the slaves and the extinc- 
tion of slavery in our beloved country. 

Mr. Thompson lays the foundation of his argument on 
the immutable law of God, and shows that slavery in all its 
shapes and forms, even the mildest it can assume, is oppos- 
ed to the great and universal law of love — that, theretbre, 
no one who claims to hold his fellow-man as property, can 
be guiltless — that^the assumption of such a right is wresting 



GEN. FESSENDEN. 19 

from Jehovah his own peculiar prerogative, and must, 
therefore, be an aggravated sin — that it is the duty of all who 
are guilty, and that it is imperatively required, instantly 
to cease from this as well as from all other sins — that the 
only path of safety is the path of obedience — and that this is 
safe. That humanity, justice, the best interest of the 
slaveholder, as well as the slave, are in accordance with 
the law of God, and that we may safely rest on the promis- 
es of God that he will reward obedience in this, as well as 
in all other cases, by averting any evils which may be 
found as the result of obedience to his holy and righteous 
behests. 

Such has been the scope of his argument. To do justice 
to his power in illustrating and enforcing it as well by the 
divine law, as promulgated in the word of God, as by the 
law written on the heart, and in the understanding, and 
enforced by an enlightened conscience, and confirmed by 
the whole history of mankind, and the dealings of Jehovah 
with individuals and nations, I would not attempt. Let 
him be heard, only, and any attempt I might make would 
be useless. 

But, it will naturally be asked, what has been the effect 
produced upon the cause of the oppressed which he has 
thus been pleading ? On those who have heard, I have no 
hesitation in saying the effect has been great and salutary. 
The decided have been aroused to more vigorousexertion — 
the roving confirmed, and not a few, of the comparatively 
few, of the decided opponents, who were induced to attend, 
have been converted, or brought to pause in their career of 
opposition. 

But while I have the satisfaction of stating that the au- 
diences, in point of numbers and moral worth, were re- 
spectable and in most instances large, still, a large propor- 
tion of the people, the professed friends of colonization, and 
most of our clergymen of the various denominations, and 
especially in this city, refused to hear. Some deeming the 
cause too secular to be considered by the religious commu- 
nity, and too unholy to be discussed from the pulpit. 

Then in some instartces it was found difficult to procure 
a suitable house, and in some we were met by absolute re- 
fusal. In some instances clergymen, profressing to be op- 
posed to slavery, refused even to give notice of our meet- 



20 LETTER FROM GEN. FESSENDEN. 

ings from the pulpit. The Rev. Mr. Dwight, one of our 
most talented and active ministers of the congregational 
order in this city, refused to give the following notice : 

' Mr. Thompson, from England, will lecture at 7 o'clock 
this evening, at the Christian chapel in Temple-street, on 
the subject of immediate emancipation, when he will at- 
tempt to show that such emancipation is not only required 
by the word of God, but is also the only just, safe or ex- 
pedient remedy for American Slavery. 

' All the friends of liberty, humanity, and religion, are 
respectfully invited to attend.' 

I give this instance to show the spirit of the opposition 
with which we have to contend, and how far this awful 
sin of slavery has given a tinge to the minds of some, and 
I fear many, of our great and good men. 

But I trust none of these things move us from our pur- 
pose, never to rest till an end is put to this crying abomi- 
nation of our land. 

Mr. T., I trust, will ere long visit your city, and that he 
may be heard, and rightly appreciated, is my earnest 
prayer. I am, dear sir, most affectionately, 
Your friend and servant, 

SAMUEL FESSENDEN. 



(21 ) 



MR. THOMPSON AT PLYMOUTH, N. H. 

Plymouth, N. H., Nov. 17, 1834. 

Dear Garrtson — We were highly animated Thursday, 
the 13tli, at a stage arrival in onr little village, hearing the 
* honored freight,' Messrs. Thompson, Grosvep^or and 
Phelps, fresh from ihefccld of Cowvew^/ow at Concord. 

To see George Thompson here among us, at some pe- 
riod of his beneficent sojourn, we had fondly hoped, from 
the moment you announced to us his intended embarkation 
from England. But to greet him so soon after his land- 
ing, and to hear him speak, within our own walls, while 
his locks were yet wet with the dews of New York hospi- 
tality, was a favor we had not anticipated. What a deli- 
cate and discerning taste, by the way, this despotic New- 
York tavern-keeper must have, and this mobocracy of ours 
in general, to vent their fine courtesies upon a subject like 
him ! Who that 6cMf/ George Thompson merely, could im- 
agine that there existed a brutality, even in New-York, bru- 
tal enough to do him harm or show him unkindness ? Burns 
tells of a Scottish lass, that the ' very de'il' could not look 
in the face but he would cry out — 'I canna wrang thee.' 
Our mobocracy might take lessons of civility and human- 
ity of the bard's ' de'il,' as I fear they have taken, o f a 
spirit having other existence than in the imagination of 
profane poetry. I really wondered, as I gazed on the 
elegant and interesting stranger, that a tavern-keeper could 
be found in all the hog-traversed streets of our republican 
Babylon, of a civility so swinish as to turn him from his 
door, — even were it to humor the sovereign and awful ca- 
price of a man-jockey from the south'? His wife and lit- 
tle children, too, routed of a poor home that a tavern could 
yield them in a strange land, — the first night, I believe, of 
their respite from the sea ! Shame on you, most magnan- 



22 MR. THOMPSON 

imous inn-bolder ! and shame on the public, that will coun- 
tenance the impudent brutality. 

But I set out to give you a slight account of our anti- 
slavery occasion, and the addresses of our noble friends 
to the good people of Grafton county. It was a capital 
occasion. A court session had drawn together the flower 
of the shire. Our fine, intellectual bar, that will rank in 
talent and honorable character with any in New England ; — 
our jury pannels, the prime of the yeomanry of a temper- 
ance community ; — these, with a considerable amount of 
merit and eminence fj officio, and the other following of a 
county assize, making up a pretty full representation of our 
local public, afforded grand materials for an anti-slavery 
auditory. Then we had some distinguished talent from 
out the county. Our ample court house, condescendingly 
opened to us in the evening, was filled at first ray of can- 
dle. A fair proportion of ladies graced the attendance, — 
the clergy from this and other surrounding towns, — and, 
to add dignity and interest to the meeting, gentlemen ad- 
vanced somewhat in life, of high judicial station in belter 
times than these, — now retired, — came several miles, in 
the air of a November evening, to countenance the occasion 
and hear the advocate of the Negro — gentlemen who, 
though not professedly abolitionists, and not altogether 
readij jicrhaps to allow the colored man his j'ight, if it were 
thought immediately practicable, yet far above the vulgar 
prejudice against him that infects our ordinary great, and 
too sagacious to trifle with the black man's plea. ^J'he au- 
ditory was, on the whole, one ofthefinpst thnf could be 
gathered, and numbered several hundreds. The Hon. S. 
P. Webster wrs prevailed on to incur the hazards of the 
chair. The meeting was opened by prayer from the 
Rev. Mr. Grosvenor — our own beloved minister being call- 
ed for, but not not having reached the meeting. A hymn 
followed — appropriate words, set to music by an ingenious 
abolition neighbor, who led the singing. Bro. Phelps then 
offered the following resolution — if I can remember accu- 
rately, tlirough the splendid discussion that followed — That 
Immediate and Entire Emancipation is the only righteous, 
efficient, safe or practicable remedy lor American slavery ; 
and that it w^as the solemn duty of every American citizen 



AT PLYMOUTH, N. H. 23 

to address himself forthwith to its consummation, by every 
christian means. He sustained the resolution in a series 
of pertinent and forcible remarks for fifteen or twenty 
minutes ; though evidently, to us who knew him, with 
restrained powers. He was succeeded by Mr. Grosvenor, 
who spoke about the same time ; and though manifestly 
with intent mainly to pave the way for what was to come 
after, he rose to high and affecting strains of eloquence. 
He was especially happy in a comparison of the trifling 
causes which employed the zeal and talents of counsel in 
that Seat of Justice, with the unutterable wrongs of two 
millions and a half of clients, in whose behalf he pleaded. 
But he forebore, he said, to take the time belonging to 
his gifted friend, who was to follow him, for whom he 
hoped the candid hearing of the auditors, as he was sure 
he would have their hearts. 

George Thompson rose before the hushed assembly. 
They did not cheer him — it is not their habit — and if it had 
been, they had no such welcome for the advocate of tlie 
despised Negro. We have wronged the colored man too 
long and too deeply to readily forgive him, or to regard 
with complacency the man who ventures to take up his 
cause. Had the orator risen for the Polander or the Greek, 
or in behalf of any honorable or classical sufS^ering, the walls 
would have rung with enthusiastic acclamation ; but it is 
otherwise towards the advocate of the poor, the despised, 
the injured, the scorned, and ' him that had none to help 
him.' The multitude regarded him in deep silence. 
Slowly, solemnly, and with wonderful expression, he sum- 
moned them to the momentous importance of the subject 
on which he was entering, and challenged the mention of 
any that could hold comparison w ith it, as it bore on the in- 
terests of man or the weal of this nation. After a brief 
preliminary, he bore away into a stream of argument and 
eloquent appeal to wiiich I had witnessed no parallel, and 
of which I can attempt no account. For an hour — it may 
be two hours — I could form no estimate of the time by its 
lapse — he held the surprised and reluctant assembly in 
breathless attention. I do not conjecture their emotions or 
convictions. There were no plaudits — no more than at the 
defence before Agrippa, or the reasonings before Felix. 
To some the orator mav have seemed ' beside himself — 



24 MR. THOMPSON 

' mad' with * much learning.' Others may have ' almost 
been persuaded.' I cannot detail his arguments, or give 
any — the faintest idea of his impression. I have a daz- 
zling impression on my memory of a portraiture of Ameri- 
can slavery — terribly graphic — an exposition of the Levit- 
tical Law, in its bearings on ancient servitude and on 
modern slavery — one which, I tliink, will forever deter all 
who heard it, from venturing thither for warrant or apolo- 
gy for the infamous system of American slaveholding : — of 
a glance at Abraham and his household, marching to the 
slaughter of the kings — a train little enough resembling a 
gang of sullen, heavy-footed negroes, goaded to the rice 
swarm — and still less a coffle of chained men moving 
through Freedom's capital, at the sound of her national 
music, to a more dismal bondage in the far south. St. 
Paul's recapture and remanding of the fugitive Onesimus, 
was illustrated by a commentary that will effectually warn 
all our scripture-mongers, who go about vindicating this 
slavery (which they hate worse than the abolitionists) from 
the bible, against quoting again from the epistle to Phile- 
mon ! The utter impracticability of gradual or partial eman- 
cipation, — the danger of indulging the captive with a 
lengthened chain, while you hold him still bound, — the 
folly of attempting a lingering release of him from his 
thraldrom, link by link, — and the dangers of immediate 
emancipation, he portrayed. From the two million and 
a half of butchers who would be * let loose ' upon the de- 
fenceless white folks, by immediate abolition, he begged 
leave to make some detachments. First, he begged to de- 
tach all the infancy. This would hardly add to the force of 
an insurrection. Then all the childhood, below the years 
tall enough to reach a throat to cut it ; — then the decripit 
age, whose vigor had long been exhausted in slavery's toil, 
and which even emancipation could not recall ; — the moth- 
ers rejoicing in their children — tlicirs at last beyond the 
reach of the auctioneer and the kidnapper ; — the countless 
band of sable youth and beauty, with modesty sacrificed 
and affections offered up on the aitar of the white man's 
shame ; then the sick—a host at all times under the * tend- 
er mercies' of the system ; the christians — ' rcsistinnr not 
evil' — much less rising upon benefactors ; and last and 
least too— the favorite slaves— the ' Id nd I ij treated.' All 



AT PLYMOUTH, N. H. 25 

these he would detach, and he thankful for; and against 
the revengeful gratitude of the residue, he commended 
the defenceless master to the strong arm of the law, to 
justice and to God. Oh, for the pen of a ready writer, 
to have caught his glorious refutation of the impious sland- 
er that the black man was inferior in native capacity to his 
oppressor ! His burning reprehension of our demanding 
fruit from the tree to which we denied the fertility of the 
earth, the dew, the shower, and the sunshine ; consigning it 
to darkness and sterility, and then scornfully demanding 
of it foliage and fruits ! I doubt if the stenographer could 
have availed himself of his art to arrest his enchanting ex- 
clamations, ' they could be felt, but could not be followed.' 
I cannot speak of his reading and comments on the fiftieth 
of Isaiah. Every christian ought to have come to the field 
upon it, as at the sound of a trumpet. He cried aloud, 
and he did not spare. He spoke of the south and the 
slaveholder in terms of christian affection — declared him- 
self a brother to the slave-master — a fellow sinner — under 
like condemnation with him, but for the grace of God — 
of the country — its history, its great names, its blood-bought 
privileges, and its blood-cemented union ; he spoke with 
thrilling and overpowering admiration, lamenting the stain 
of slavery upon our otlierwise glorious renown. Much as 
I was captivated with his oratory and force, it was the 
sweet spirit of the christian that won most my admiration 
and affection, it was the spirit of the ' beloved disciple' — 
and he comes into this guilty land not * to spy out its na- 
kedness, or abundance, or to regard our boasted politics ; 
but in obedience to that solemn command, * Go ye into 
all nations ;' and to the ' Lo, I am with you,' we commit 
him, for protection against the violence of our multitudes 
and the councils of our chief priests and pharisees. 

After he had closed, the resolution was put to the meet- 
ing for their adoption. It was read by the chairman with 
a feeling somewhat hcloic the fervor of the speaker. Still, 
a very goodly number of hands were raised in its support, 
and only three were seen to go up in answer to the call for 
opposition. Three hands ! — and these were of gentlemen — 
scholars — bred to the generous pursuits of learning ! Be- 
fore the addresses, scarcely threc^ boside the ^qw profess- 
3 



26 MR. THOMPSON AT PLYMOUTH, N. H. 

ed abolitionists, would have risen in favor of the doctrines 
of the resolution. 

The assembly dispersed quietly and with the utmost de- 
corum, after prayer by our beloved pastor. 

Many abolitionists were confirmed, and many, I have 
no doubt, made at the meeting. The addresses were 
spoken of with universal admiration, the cause opposed 
with moderated and respectful tone. The result will be 
most happy for the cause. I have only to say that our 
brethren might come among us again. Another such 
hearing would assemble thousands, and thousands may as- 
semble in Grafton county without danger of mobs. We 
have enough of honorable character among the opposition 
to hold our mobocracy in respectful check. I hope they 
will visit us again early. This county is an important sec- 
tion of the State. The temperance cause received some 
of its earliest and most powerful impulses here, and ' good 
temperance ground is good abolition ground.' 

In haste, my dear sir, — too much to retrench my long 
and crude letter, — I remain, truly and affectionately, yours, 

N. P. ROGERS. 



( 27 ) 



MR. THOMPSON AT PAWTUCKET, R. I. 

Pawtucket, Nov. 28, 1834. 

Mr. Garrison : — Mr. Thompson has made a powerful, 
happy, and, I trust, lasting impression in favor of the cause 
of emancipation in the city of Providence. In the prov- 
idence of God, I was prevented hearing him ; but the 
tree is known by the fruit, and of that I can say it is good 
and abundant. 

Whatever of prejudice might have been entertained by 
any of his audience against him personally, was vanquish- 
ed forthwith, and lost in a conviction of his disinterested 
love to God and man, and his honesty of purpose ; and 
that in his mission and labors, he is moved by the invinci- 
ble agency of Christian philanthropy. He said that * he 
was accused of being a foreigner, but that could not be 
his fault, for he was not consulted respecting the place of 
his birth ; had he been, he might have chosen to have 
been born in the good city of Providence.' 

Of his eloquence, I have heard but one sentiment ex- 
pressed, viz. that it is of the very first order. An acquain- 
tance of mine, a political editor, said, that he did not hesi- 
tate to pronounce him the most eloquent speaker he had 
ever heard. Nor were his hearers merely delighted and 
entertained with his fascinating powers of oratory : his ar- 
guments seemed to carry all by the hoard, and I have reason 
to believe made a multitude of converts. 

Yesterday we had the unspeakable satisfaction of wel- 
coming Mr. Thompson to our village, and of hearing him 
address a large and attentive audience in the first Bap- 
tist meeting-house. He was extremely interesting, although 



28 MR. THOMPSON 

it was said, by those who had previously heard him, that 
it was far from being one of his most happy efforts. He 
said that he did not speak easy at all. This difliculty, I 
think, may partly be attributed to the house not being the 
most happily constructed for easy speaking, especially for 
a stranger, and partly to tlie unhappy time of the day 
which we fixed upon for the commencement, which cir- 
cumscribed him in respect to time, and must have been 
peculiarly embarrassing. The audience, however, so far 
as I am informed, were highly gratified, and the unan- 
imous desire expressed is to hear him again. 

Mr. Thompson was literally thronged with company at 
his lodgings, at the house of our friend, Mr. William 
Adams, who were no less instructed than delighted with 
his most agreeable demeanor, and appropriate and perti- 
nent conversation. 

I thank God for such a laborer in the cause. My deav 
Brother, what hath God wrought! Some four years ago, 
you were almost alone in your labors in this cause in New- 
England : now a host have been raised up in the length 
and breadth of the whole land, who have joined tlie holy 
standard ; and, in additon to this, brethren from beyond the 
seas fly to our aid, helping onward the invincible cause 
with their prayers, untiring toil, and eloquence almost com- 
mensurate with the merits of the cause they so dearly love. 
Generations yet unborn shall rise up to call Stuart and 
Thompson, with the American Philanthropists who have 
jeopardised their earthly all in the cause of abolition ; I 
say, they shall rise up, and call them blessed. 

One circumstance transpired yesterday, which was, to 
me, as I trust it was to all who witnessed it, most so- 
lemnly affecting and impressive, which I must not omit 
mentioning. After we had been a few moments seated 
in the pulpit, I perceived that some one was endeavor- 
ing to gain, although with extreme difliculty, the ascen- 
dancy of the pulpit stairs ; and on opening the door, 
who do you think it was found to be ? A mobocrat, 
ready to seize on Mr. Thompson, tear him from the 
house, and tar and feather him? Nay ; it was the ven- 
erable Moses Brown, at the advanced age of ninety- 
seven, pressing forward, as if sent by God to place him- 
self on the platform by the side of his trans-atlantic 



AT PAWTUCKET, R. I. 29 

brother, not only to hear from his lips the doctrines which 
he himself has so long advocated, and reduced to prac- 
tice in his life, but also to sanction, by his patriarchal 
and venerable presence, the cause of philanthropy in 
"vvhich he was engaged! 

We hope soon to be blessed with another visit from 
Mr. Thompson. 

Yours sincerely, 

RAY POTTER. 



3* 



( 30 ) 



MR. THOMPSON AT LOWELL. 

Wednesday Dec. 3, 1S34. 

Mr. Garrison — A brief and hasty sketch is all 1 can 
now send you of occurrences in our good liltle town of 
Lowell, during the visit of our invaluable friend Thompson, 
He came among us on invitation, to give lectures on Sab- 
bath, Monday and Tuesday evenings of the present week. 
We had obtained permission of the Selectmen to occupy 
for the purpose the Town Hall, a room in which town 
meetings are held, and the use of which is usually granted, 
on any respectful application, for any object which is not 
unlawful or manifestly immoral. 

On Sabbath evening, Mr. Thompson gave a splendid 
leoture, in which he entirely swept away the pretended 
support of slavery from tlie bible. The audience was 
large, and listened with delight till a late hour. They 
suffered no interruption, except the throwing of a large 
stone at a window, which was arrested by the sash and fell 
harmless on the outside. 

Notice was given on Sabbath evening, that the lecture 
on Monday evening would commence at 8 o'clock ; and 
that we would meet for discussion at half past six ; Mr. 
Thompson extending a most respectful and friendly invi- 
tation to all who had objections to our principles or meas- 
ures, to be present and state them, and to all who had in- 
quiries, to propound them. 

On Monday, the Board of Managers sent special mes- 
sages, of the same purport, to gentlemen who had taken 
an active part in public against the formation of our Society 
last winter. They declined the invitation unanimously, 
and we had not a single objector or inquirer at the meet- 



MR. THOMPSON AT LOWELL. 81 

itig, except abolitionists. This was much regretted ; for an- 
ti-slavery men are anxious to have the whole subject thor- 
oughly sifted, and every argument brought against them 
fairly examined, in the hearing of the people. However, 
we managed to have some of the most formidable objec- 
tions stated, and our friend entertained the assembly by 
refuting them, one after another, in the most lively and 
entertaining manner. 

Then followed a lecture of nearly two hours' length, on 
the history of St. Domingo — that history which on so many 
minds is a spectre to warn them against the liberation of 
slaves ; but which, when truly narrated, is so triumphant 
an example of the perfect safety of immediate emancipation 
even in circumstances as unpromising as can possibly be 
conceived. Very few left the hall till the lecture was end- 
ed, notwithstanding its length and some untoward events 
now to be mentioned. 

In the early part of the lecture, a small company of 
low fellows disturbed the assembly just without the door, 
in the entry at the head of the stairs, by loud stamping, 
vociferation and hisses. This was continued at intervals 
for near half an hour, when peace-officers, who had been 
sent for, arrived, and immediately the disturbers were quiet 
as lambs, and continued so till the close. Some time after, 
three'"' missiles were thrown at the building behind the 
speaker. The third or last, a large brickbat, came through 
the window, passed near the speaker's head and fell harm- 
less before the audience in front of the rostrum. This 
missile must have been thrown with great force, to pass 
into the second story of a high-posted building, and fly 
so far from the wall. A slight change of its direction 
would have silenced the eloquence of our friend forever, 
except that the barbarity of the deed would have given, 
what he had already said in behalf of the oppressed, a more 
glorious immortality. Praised be the Arbiter of life, that 
he vet survives to plead for the outcasts. Nothing daunt- 
ed, he spoke some time after this, and the meeting closed 
n peace. 

But the elements of turbulence and confusion had but 
begun to move. Yesterday, we heard of little but * wars 
and rumors of wars ; ' much that was rumor only ; but too 
much that was real, for the honor of Lowell or of New- 



52 mh. THOMPSON 

England. The most sagacious never seriously appreliend* 
ed greater disturbance on the ensuing evening. Our 
board of managers met early in the afternoon, who unani- 
mously and calmly resolved to claim the protection of the 
Selectmen, and to proceed with the meeting. The Select- 
men, like true guardians of the public welfare, had been 
on the alert during the day. They received our applica- 
tion in a very gentlemanly manner, and promised us pro- 
tection to the extent of their authority. The time arrived. 
With Mr. Thompson, we met the Selectmen in their room 
adjacent to the Hall. The night was exceedingly dark ; 
the building was approachable on all sides; and not a 
window had a blind or a shutter, except that behind the 
speaker, which had a temporary barrier on the inside 
which remains to-day a disgraceful monument of the 
infuriate temper of some men in Lowell. The Selectmen 
still pledged us all the aid they could render ; but doubt- 
ed whether it was practicable, with the preparations which 
time permitted, to save the assembly from violence through 
the windows from without. Under these circumstances, 
we felt it an act of discretion and humanity, without any 
sacrifice of principle io a clj our n the meeting to 2 o'clock 
this afternoon at the same place. This was done, and no 
further violence occurred. Mr. Thompson is now giving 
his concluding lecture on the practical part of the 
subject, and I have stolen away to write lest I should be 
too late. 

The mal-contents were not satisfied to retire home after 
our adjournment last evening. They re-opened the Hall, 
and held a sort ofmobocratic caucus, though remarkably 
still and orderly for one of that kind. They passed, and have 
to-day published, resolutions, ' deeply deploring the ex- 
istence of slavery ' — most sincerely, no doubt — and saying 
that the agitation of the subject here is very bad — that 
the Town Hall ought not to be used for the purpose — 
and communicating this wise opinion to the Selectmen. 
Those officers, however, have stood firm to their duty 
to-day. 

The meeting is closed, and my letter must go. I can- 
not, however, forbear to say, that the handbills and other 
menacesof yesterday did us much good. Many, who are 
not friendly to our principles, said, ' This is no question 



AT LOWELL. 33 

of abolition — but whether law and order shall prevail in 
Lowell, or whether mobs shall rule.' They besought us 
to proceed, and were ready to render us every assistance 
in their power. The occurrences of the week v/ili do 
much for the cause of truth and liberty in our town, and 
you may tell the whole country that abolition in Lowell is 
neither dead nor wounded. 

Yours truly, 

A, RAND. 



( 34 ) 



MR. THOMPSON AT SOUTH READING. 

South Reading, Dec. 6, 1834. 

Mk. Garrison — The numerous panegyrical notices of 
Mr. Thompson, which had for the last two months appear- 
ed in the columns of the Liberator, had put curiosity upon 
tiptoe in our little village to hear this disinterested, generous 
and eloquent man of truth, and advocate of liberty. 
He favoied us with his presence yesterday, and last even- 
ing lectured for the space of two hours in the Baptist 
meeting-house, with zealous fluency and triumphant argu- 
mentation. The audience was a large one, and highly res- 
pectable, notwithstanding the purposely slight and obscure 
notice of the meeting which was given by our congrega- 
tional minister, who is still on the side of gradualism and 
expatriation. A considerable number of individuals, ani- 
mated by various motives, came from the surrounding 
towns, — even as far as Salem, — among whom were the 
Rev. Mr. Grosvernor and Richard P. Waters, Esq. The 
meeting was opened with singing by the choir, and prayer 
by the Rev. Mr. Pickett of Reading; after which, Rev. 
Mr. Grosvenor made a few pertinent remarks, introducing 
Mr. Thompson to us, in which he reminded us that Amer- 
ican liberty was won and established partly by the valor of 
a foreigner — Lafayette ; and that the spiritual redemption 
of the world was effected through the instrumentality of 
another foreigner — the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Of Mr. Thompson's lecture I shall not attempt to give 
you even the outlines. The topics were so various, the ar- 
guments so profound, the illustrations so rich and appro- 
priate, the transitions from the pathetic to the severe, and 



MR. THOMPSON AT SOUTH READING. 35 

from the beautiful to the sublime, were so incessant yet nat- 
ural, that my pen might as well attempt to give the sound 
of the mountain torrent, or mark the course of the light- 
ning, as to state them in their order, with justice either to 
the subject or the orator. 

Mr. Thompson in his exordium, at once secured the 
earnest attention of his hearers by remarking, with measur- 
ed and solemn enunciation, that the question which he 
was about to discuss was one of immense magnitude and 
transcendant importance, in comparison with which, all 
others that are now agitating the minds of the American 
people, appertaining to the politics or the prosperity of the 
nation, dwindled into insignificance ; and he trusted that 
he might be able to go into its discussion with that candor 
and faithfulness which it merited, and that his auditors 
would listen with unbiassed, unprejudiced, and christian 
minds. If he should misapprehend, or misinterpret, or 
misstate, in any particular whatever; if he should swerve 
but a hair's breadth from the line of eternal rectitude, or 
fail in sustaining every assertion and every proposition that 
he might make ; he called upon every one present, who 
should detect him in error, to rise and expose his sophistry 
or his ignorance. But if he should speak understanding- 
ly — truly — with a zeal according to knowledge ; if he 
should show that slavery in the abstract and in the concrete 
was wrong, and that it was emphatically a national trans- 
gression — then it became each of those before him to say 
with repenting Saul — ' Lord, what wilt thou have me to 
do?' 

With regard to th'\s Jindmg somctliing to do, which many 
think is so difficult a matter, Mr. Thompson asked — Do 
you know of any abolitionists, who are at a loss what to do 
for the emancipation of the slaves ? Do they not say, that 
there are so many appropriate and important modes of ac- 
tion, that they are often puzzled which of them to select ? 
Do they not exclaim — O, that our zeal, our talents, our 
means, our influence, were increased a hundred fold ! O, 
that we could be here — there — every where, rebuking, en- 
couraging, convincing and reforming a perverse and cruel 
people ! 

But, — but, — * We are as much opposed to slavery as we 
can be.' This hypocritical and impudent profession was 



36 MR. THOMPSOxX 

most severely dealt with by Mr. Thompson, in a strain of 
burning satire. He interrogated those who made it, 
whether they remembered the slave in their prayers — in 
their intercourse with relations and friends 1 whether they 
contributed aught of their substance to the furtherance of 
the anti-slavery cause, or circulated any petitions for the 
abolition of slavery in those portions of territory which are 
under the jurisdiction of the national legislature? To 
which interrogation the reply uniformly was — * O, no ! we 
have done none of these ; but then — tvc arc as }}uich op- 
posed to slavery as we can he ! ' 

The speaker then made a death grapple with those who 
run to the Bible to find a precedent and a plea for southern 
slavery, and tore them limb from limb, lie nobly vindi- 
cated that precious volume, and its great Author, from the 
impious aspersions which had been cast upon them by the 
apologists of slavery, who contended that they gave full 
warrant for the murderous system. All those of his au- 
dience who were jealous for the honor and glory of God, 
and the holy repute of the scriptures, must have rejoiced in 
the masterly exhibition of truth which was made on this 
interesting occasion. 

We were gratified to see you in the assembly, Mr. Gar- 
rison : and we could not but rejoice anew at the glorious 
fruits of your mission to England, as seen in the speedy 
and utter overthrow of the agent of the American Coloni- 
zation Society in that country — in the increasing sympathy 
of British christians for the slaves in our land — in the effi- 
cient aid which they are giving to us in various chan- 
nels — and particularly, and above all, in securing to us, 
even * without money and without price,' the invaluable 
services of GEORGE THOMPSON and CHARLES 
STUART — philanthropists whose hearts burn with patriot- 
ic as well as christian love for our great but guilty repub- 
lic — whose only desire is, to make us 'that happy people 
whose God is the Lord' — and who duly appreciate and 
admire all that is truly excellent in our character as a 
people. 

At the close of the lecture, Mr. Thompson again re- 
quested persons present, if there were any such, who had 
any difiiculties yet remaining on their minds, or who were 
not entirely satisfied with his arguments, or who thought 



AT SOUTH READING. 37 

he had erred either as to matter of factor of inference, to 
express their views or propound any questions without 're- 
serve. After a short pause, Rev. Mr. Grosvenor rose and 
said, that, as for himself, he had no objections to make to 
any thing that had been advanced by the speaker. He 
then alluded to the fact that, for his advocacy of the cause 
of the oppressed, he (Mr. Grosvenor) had lost his church 
and congregation in Salem ; but expressed a holy resolve 
that come what might, he would at all times and in all 
places be a mouth-piece for the suffering and the dumb. 
His remarks, though few, were made with much feeling 
and firmness ; after which, he pronounced a benediction 
upon the assembly. 

As yet, I have heard but a single individual who was 
not pleased with Mr. Thompson's lecture, although there 
may be others — for 

' Men convinced against their will. 
Are of the same opinion still.' 

He is a gradualist— a colonizationist — and, I believe, a 
member of an orthodox church ; and he says that Mr. T. 
ought to have had another brickbat thrown at his head — 
alluding to the affair at Lowell. What an amiable tem- 
per ! v.hat a benevolently disposed man ! what a meek and 
forgiving christian ! 

We hope Mr. T. will visit us again shortly — but our 
brethren in Reading think it is their turn next. 

Yours truly, 

AN ABOLITIONIST. 



(38 ) 



MR. THOMPSON AT DOVER, N. II. 



Portland, Maine, Tuesday evening, ) 
February lOtli, 1^35. ) 

My dear Brother — The following hasty and brief ac- 
count of my labors since I parted with you on Wednesday 
evening, will, I believe, be interesting to you, and the re- 
sult proves that the God of our cause does not permit us 
to labor in vain, nor spend our strength for nought. 

Thursrlm/, Feb. 5th. Left Boston for Dover, "N. II. at 
eight in the morning, accompanied by Rev. Amos A. 
Phelps. Arrived at half past five, and were most kindly 
received and entertained by the Rev. D. Root, the Con- 
gregational Minister, ' an Israelite indeed, in whom there 
is no guile.' At eight o'clock, delivered a preliminary lec- 
ture in Mr. Root's Church, to a very respectable congre- 
gation. 

Friday, Gth. Occupied the day in conference with the 
excellent ministers of the Biptist and Methodist Episcopal 
Churches, the Rev. Messrs. Williams and Perkins, and 
found them devoted in heart and understanding to our holy 
enterprise. In the evening, delivered a second Lecture in 
the M. E. meeting-house. Although the weather was 
rendered inclement by a snow storm, the audience was 
numerous, 

Saturday, 7th. In the afternoon, drove to Great Falls, 
accompanied by Mr. Phelps. Received a hearty welcome 
from Rev. Mr. Smith, of the Congregational Church. 
In the evening, at half past six, gave a lecture in the Bap- 
tist meetmg-house, and obtained twenty-two subscribers 



MR. THOMPSON AT DOVER, N. H. 39 

at 12J cents per month to the American Society. Found 
the worthy pastor of the church in which I lectured, the 
Rev. Abner Goodell, a warm friend. 

Sunday, 8th. In the morning, delivered an Anti-Slavery 
discourse in the pulpit of the Rev. Mr. Williams, Dover. 
Sunday afternoon, delivered a second Anti-Slavery dis- 
course in the pulpit of the Rev. David Root. Audience 
very large and highly respectable. Sunday evening, de- 
livered a third Anti-Slavery discourse in Mr. Root's 
Church, which was crowded. The audience composed 
of persons from all the churches in the town. O, it was 
indeed refreshing to witness harmony, good will, fellow- 
ship, and co-operation in our cause, existing and prevail- 
ing amongst ministers and churches throughout a neigh- 
borhood ! At the close of my discourse, a collection was 
taken up, and §44 C2^ was obtained. 

Monday, 9th. In the afternoon, at half past two, held 
a public meeting in Mr. Root's Church, and formed male 
and female Anti-Slavery Associations for Dover. One 
hundred and twelve names were subscribed to the Con- 
stitution, and about fifty-six monthly subscribers of 12J 
cents, each subscriber receiving a copy of the Anti- 
Slavery Record. 

Monday Evening, 8 o'clock. Held a second public meet- 
ing in Mr. William's Church, and obtained nearly three 
hundred additional names, to the Constitution, and fifty 
additional monthly subscribers, making a total of four 
hundred members of the Society, and one hundred sub- 
scribers for the Record. Thus, about two hundred dol- 
lars have been raised in Dover for the cause of Abo- 
lition. 

To what is this success to be attributed 1 1st, To the 
essential goodness of our cause, and the blessing of God 
upon our labors ; and 2ndly, Instrumentally, principally 
to the co-operation of the Ministers of Religion. Our 
experience at Dover has afforded another demonstration 
to the truth of what I have so often assumed, that the fate 
of Slavery in this country depends upon the will and con- 
duct of the ministers of the Gospel. Why did the people 
in Dover assemble in such numbers ? Why did they join 
so heartily in the cause 1 Why did they so liberally sub- 
scribe? Because they saw their beloved pastors going 



40 MR. THOMPSON AT DOVER, N. H. 

forward in the work, and felt, therefore, confidence and 
courage. 

Brother Phelps, myself, and Mr. Benson, reached this 
place about four, to-day. The Cumberland County Con- 
vention meets to-morrow, at 10 o'clock. You shall learn 
the result on Saturday. 

We are all under the roof of the Winslows, who are as 
kind and generous as ever. 

Yours most affectionately, 

GEO. THOMPSON. 



(41 ) 



MR. THOMPSON'S REPLY TO PROFESSOR 
WHEDON. 

23 Brighton Street, Feb. 18, 1835. 
To the Editor of Ziori's Herald: 

Sir — I have just read in your paper of to-day a letter 
signed ' D. D. Whedon/ and headed ' Foreign Interfer- 
ence.' I am ignorant of the profession or station of the 
writer. If he be a Christian man, and continue one a few 
years longer, he will, I believe, deeply lament the publi- 
cation of the sentiments which that letter contains. Under 
what extraordinary circumstances of excitement it was 
written 1 cannot say. I hope it was not a cool closet 
composition ; for with the belief that it had been written 
deliberately, I should be compelled to draw conclusions 
very unfavorable to the character of the writer's heart. 

He declares it right to denounce the measures of the 
Papists in this country as ' infamous and impertinent 
foreign interference ;' and then as-ks, in reference to my- 
self, ' but with what severer epithet [severer than infa- 
mous and impertinent !^ shall we characterize the man 
who comes to lecture the citizens of these United States 
upon the most delicate and most vital of h^I the political 
questions which agitate this distracted nation ?' In other 
words, who comes to 'open his mouth, judge righteously, 
and plead the cause of the poor and needy.' Your cor- 
respoi.deut proceeds — ' Did that gentleman come, commis- 
sioned from some foreign clubs, to collect meetings and 
nominate an American President, it might be borne with 
comjjarativc patience ; ' but to come to apply the principles 
of the gospel to a system which reduces to the most brutal 
4* 



43 MR. Thompson's letter 

subjection one-sixth portion of our home-bora population 
of these United States ;— which puts out the eyes of the 
soul, defaces the image of the Maker, and leaves the 
wretched victim to grope sightless and hopeless to the 
judgment of an equal God ; — which tears the infant from 
its mother's bosom, and brands it as a beast for the sham- 
bles ; — which converts into solemn mockery the charter 
of man's rights, and all the forms of justice ; — which rend- 
ers null and void the holy bond of matrimony ; — which 
denies the Book of Life to two millions, who without it are 
destitute of that knowledge which begets a hope beyond 
the grave ; — which punishes with deatu the second offence 
of teaching an immortal being the way to heaven : to apply 
the principles of eternal righteousness to such a system is 
a work which requires ' better credentials than a diploma 
from any foreign Society, of whatever character or of 
whichever sex.' Your correspondent is ' right,' and I am 
thankful that such credentials are at hand. Whenever 
your correspondent is disposed, I will, in his presence, 
spread these credentials before any impartial American 
audience he can collect, and allow him all the space he 
wishes to question their sufficiency, or invalidate their 
authority. 

There is every evidence that your correspondent deems 
himself a staunch patriot, — so staunch that he dare not 
trust himself to comment upon the extensive patronage 
which the Anti-Slavery Association of this country have 
extended towards me, lest he should be ' betrayed into 
language half as strong' as the 'perpetration of such an 
act deserves.' 

From the 57th page of the life of Richard Watson, I 
make the following extract. It is the language of that 
distinguished ornament of the Methodist body, and will 
perhaps show that the work in which I am engaged is as 
patriotic as writing unkind and violent articles against the 
friends of the enslaved : — 

' To what, then, ought 2iatriotism to be directed ? It has 
secured our civil rights ; it has organized our armies ; it 
has rendered our navy invincible ; it has extended our 
commerce, and enlarged our dominions : but there is yet 
one object to be accomplished, without which well appoint- 
ed armies, an invincible navy, extended commerce and 



TO D. D. WHEBON, 43 

enlarged dominion, will add little to our dignity, our hap- 
piness, or our real strength ; — I mean, the correction of 
our MORALS. Immorality and irreligion as certainly dry 
up the resources of a nation, and hasten its downfall, 
as a worm at the root of the finest plant will cause it to 
fade, to wither, and to die. Wickedness arms God against 
us ; and if he ' speak concerning a nation, to pluck it up 
and to destroy,' no counsels, however wise, no plans, how° 
ever judicious, no exertions however vigorous, can avert 
the sentence — ' Righteousness cxalteth a nation ; ' and 
every endeavor to promote it is patriotic' 

Adopting Mr. Watson's views of ' patriotism,' I plead 
for the liberation from hateful and unjust bonds of 
2,250,000 human, immortal, blood-ransomed beings. Am 
I worse than ' infamous ' and ' impertinent ' for this ? 

I plead that the hindrances to moral and religious im- 
provement may be removed, and the colored population, 
instead of ' perishing for lack of knowledge,' enjoy the 
blessings of education, grow up in 'the nurture and ad- 
monition of the Lord,' and in his fear discharge all the 
duties of civil, social, and domestic life. Am I worse than 
' infamous ' and ' impertinent ' for doing this ? 

i plead that the Bible may be given to millions of ac- 
countable beings who are prohibited from looking into its 
pages. Am I worse than ' infamous ' and ' impertinent ' 
for doing this 1 

I plead for the abolition of temptations and opportunities 
to licentiousness, profligacy, and impurity, and the presen- 
tation of motives to chastity, honor and fidelity. Am I 
worse than ' infamous ' and ' impertinent ' for doing this ? 

I plead for the recognition, protection, sanctification 
and security of the marriage tie. Am 1 worse than ' in- 
famous ' and ' impertinent ' for doing this ? 

I plead for the abolition of a practice that robs the fathers 
and mothers of this land of two hundred new born infants 
a day, and introduces that number of hapless innocents 
into all the pollution and degradation of hopeless thral- 
dom. Am I worse than ' infamous ' and ' impertinent ' for 
doing this ? 

But enough. Let the Christian world judge between 
me and my accuser. I fear not the verdict. 

I desire to register my unfeigned gratitude to God for 



44 MR. Thompson's letter to d. d. wiiedoK", 

the success which he has uniformly granted to the fearless 
publication of the truth upon the subject of Slavery. Our 
cause is advancing rapidly. Its advocates may smile up- 
on all opposition. Any attempt to prevent the spread of 
abolition sentiments, or crush the spirit which is now going 
through the land, is as vain, (to say nothing of its wicked* 
ness,) as to attempt to hurl the Rocky Mountains from 
their foundations, or roll back the waters of the Mississippi. 
We may adopt the language of the dying Wesley — ' The 
best of all is, God is with us.' 

To D. D. Whedon I would kindly say— Take the let- 
ter you have published to your closet, your knees, and 
your God. Pray earnestly for wisdom, truth, and charity. 
Contemplate the state of things in the Southern States of 
the country you profess to love. Let the slave stand be- 
fore you in the awful attributes of a deathless and account- 
able being. Reflect upon your own responsibility to plead 
his cause and promote his present and eternal good, — and 
then say, whether you have done well to seek to bring 
down upon the head of a stranger, and the slave's ad- 
vocate, a relentless storm of popular indignation ? 

I will offer no reply to your remarks on my country. 
They are wholly unworthy the Ciiristian— the patriot— 
and the man. 

In respect to the * fulness of hospitality ' which you 
say you would 'pour upon me' if I were an inactive and 
indifferent observer of the wrongs of the slave, — I beg 
to say that I am quite content to relinquish the enjoy- 
ment, and see it reserved for the ' Christian brother' who 
can ' forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death, 
and those that are ready to be slain.' 

Pardon, Mr. Editor, these protracted remarks. I doubt 
not you will follow the dictates of justice whether you in- 
sert or reject what I have written. It is not likely I shall 
soon trouble you again. Heaven bless your country, and 
send a speedy and peaceful triumph to the cause of the 
oppressed ! * The Lord reigneth, let the earth rejoice !' 

* All is in his liand whose praise I .seek, 

Whose frown can disappoint the proudest work, 
Whose approbation prosper even mine.' 

Very respectfully yours, 

GEO. THOMPSON. 



( 45 ) 



MR. THOMPSON AT PHILADELPHIA. 

Philadelphia, 3d mo. 5, 183 >> 

My dear friend, — Unwilling to do anything that could 
by possibility fan the flames which for a time seemed to 
threaten with riotous destruction our civil institutions, we 
have, in this city, for several months past abstained from 
public efforts, for promoting the glorious cause of human 
liberty. Still we have not been unmindful of the cries and 
groans of two millions of our countrymen in bondage. "^"^ e 
have marked the accelerated progress of licentiousness 
and pollution in the slaveholding sections of our country ; 
we have seen the hand of despotism extending its iron 
grasp over two hundred new born victims in every twenty- 
four hours ; we have heard the lamentations of the bereav- 
ed mother when her darling babe has been torn from her 
bosom ; we have observed the widely withering influence 
of an unholy prejudice against beings created, like our- 
selves, in the image of God ; we have heard the sentiment 
advanced, by professed ministers of Him who came to un- 
do the heavy burdens, and let the oppressed go free, that 
we ' are but a set of misguided fanatics, unworthy of the 
public regard.' All this we have silently borne for weeks 
and months that are past. But the claims of our fellow- 
men, who are suffering under the cruel yoke of oppression, 
have during this interval, often ascended in our orisons to 
the Throne of Grace, and the spirit of the Lord has been 
fit work in the hearts of many people, preparing them for 
the reception of truth, and for active co-operation in the 
cause of universal freedom ; and now we have been com- 
forted and made to rejoice together, by the labors of a 
messenger of love, whom I verily believe the God of the 



46 MR. THOMPSON 

oppressed has sent among us. Our beloved coadjutor, 
George Thompson, arrived here, from New-York, on tht 
2nd instant, and on the evening of the 3rd, delivered i 
Lecture in the ' Reformed Presbyterian Church,' in Cher 
ry Street. No public notice had been given, yet such was 
the anxiety to hear him, that not less than one thousand 
persons assembled on the occasion and all were more than 
gratified. The interesting nature of the siibject, the per- 
fect understanding of it in all its bearings evinced by the 
speaker, the truly christian spirit with which he spoke of 
the wrong doers, all added to his commanding eloquence, 
carried conviction to the understanding and bore the 
hearts of his auditors along w'ith him, and unfurled in 
many a bosom, the standard of immediate abolitionism. 

One of our most estimable citizens, who has been favor- 
able to colonization, said at the close of the meeting, that 
he would willingly go thirty miles at any time to hear such 
a discourse. I would attempt to give an outline of it, were 
it possible for me to do it justice, but 1 can only say, to 
all who would understand a christian's views and feelings, 
and know his arguments on the subject of slavery and its 
remedy, you mwst go and hear George Thompson for 
yourselves. He labors in the cause of God, and in behalf 
of that portion of the creation of God made in his own 
image, who are borne down by relentless oppression, in 
every portion of the habitable globe. He pleads with 
Christians of every name, to arouse from their lethargy, 
and in the name of the Master whom they profess to serve, 
to vindicate the right of man to be fiee ; his motto is, 
' Man is man, endowed by his Creator with certain ina- 
lienable rights, among which, are life, liberty and the pur- 
suit of happiness.' 

Yesterday morning, our dear friend returned to New- 
York, to fulfil prior engagements in that city. Last even- 
ing our board of Managers unanimously adopted the fol- 
lowing Resolution, viz : 

• Resolved, That the tlianks of this Board be presented to our highly 
esteemed coadjutor, George Thompson, for the clear and forcible exposition 
ofAi)olition principles, presented in Ins address to an assemblage of our 
lellow-citi/.ens lasi exening, and that he be most respecifiill} invited to re- 
turn to this city as soon as previoiie engagements will permit, to plead before 
other congregations the cause of the op[)rcssed,' 



AT PHILADELPHIA. 



47 



Last evening, our estimable friend, Amasa Walker, 
from your city, made an excellent address before our Anti- 
Slavery Society, and coadjutors from every quarter are 
coming up in the name of the God of hosts, to the further- 
ence of his righteous cause. Our hearts are animated 
with the increase of light ; the day begins to dawn, the 
manacles of oppression will ere long be melted by the ge- 
nial warmth of the Sun of Righteousness, and Ethiopia will 
stretch forth her hand to God. 

Most truly, my friend, ever thine, 

ARNOLD BUFFUM. 

Wm. Lloyd Garrison, Boston. 



( 48 ) 



IMPORTANT MEETING. 

A meeting of a peculiarly solemn and interesting char- 
acter was held on Thursday evening, April 2, in the 
Hall, corner of Broomfield and Tremont streets, in Bos- 
ton. It was composed exclusively of members of various 
Christian churches, and convened for the purpose of con- 
sidering the propriety of forming a Union among professing 
Christians, with a view to the action of churches as such 
upon the question of slavery. 

The Hall was crowded to overflowing. Among those 
present, we noticed the Rev. Messrs. Hague, Stow, Wells, 
Himes, Thrasher, S. J. May, Amasa Walker, Esq. S. E. 
Sewall, Esq. and Mr. Geo. Thompson. At a quarter be- 
fore eight, the meeting was called to order by deacon Sul- 
livan ; and the Rev. Baron Stow was unanimously elected 
Moderator ; Mr. Ilayward was appointed Clerk of the 
meeting. After a few introductory remarks, the moderator 
called upon Mr. George Thompson to open the meeting 
with prayer. After remarks from the Rev. Messrs. Himes, 
Thrasher and Wells, 

Mr. Thompson observed, that wlren it was his privilege 
to meet with christian minded men, who were devoted 
ly attached to the work of abolition, he felt, even when 
their number was comparatively insignificant, that his heart 
was more elated, and his hopes of a speedy, peaceful, and 
righteous triumph were higher and brighter, than when he 
stood in the midst of thousands whose minds were not 
moved and sustained by the principles derived from a re- 
cognition of God, and a zeal for His glory. He regarded, 
with feelings of indescribable deliglit, the assembly before 



IMPORTANT MEETING. 49 

him. It showed the deep and hallowed interest which the 
cause of abolition had excited. The question was, — Ought 
the members of christian churches to organize a union 
upon the subject of Slavery ? His reply to that question 
was, — Yes! The union is desirable. It is proper — it is 
important — it is indispcnsahlc — it is is overwhelmingly im- 
perative. The inquiry had been started, what lias the 
church to do with slavery 1 The answer was— Ever?/ 
thing. The Jwnor, the purity, the usefulness, the glonj. 
nay, the very existence of the church was concerned. The 
churches at the south had to do with slavery. Slavery 
v»'as upheld by the churches. Essentially wicked, it had 
no self-sustaining energy. Were the sanction and partici- 
pation of otherwise good men withdrawn, it would be con- 
demned and annihilated with the common consent of man- 
kind. The Presbyterians, Baptists, Methodists, Congre- 
gationalists, and some other minor denominations of Christ- 
ians were at the present time the pillars of the hateful fabric. 
Hundreds of ministers were slaveholders. Thousands of 
professing christians were slaveholders. The minister of 
Christ was paid out of the hire of the laborer, kept back 
by fraud. Church property frequently consisted of slaves. 
There were many human beings, who, when asked by 
v.hom they were owned, replied — By the congregation ! 
The followers of Christ buyino-, brandinji, barterinop, toilinsf, 
and debasing God's image, and God's poor daily robbed 
to support the ordinances of a just and equal God, who 
hath made of one blood all nations of men ! In view of 
these things would it be said, the churches had nothing 
to do with slavery ? Had northern Christians no regard 
for the honor of their religion — the purity of the body to 
which they belonged ? Must every sin be boldly denounc- 
ed but the sin of slaveholding ? Must the harlot, the 
swindler, the gamester, the Sabbath-breaker, the drunk- 
ard, be thrust out of the church, and the slaveholder 
kept in, and soothed, and excused, and long and labored 
apologies framed for him and the abomination with which 
he stood connected? Was such a course a just or impar- 
tial one? If a man was known to sit down and spend an 
occasional hour in shuffling and exchanging pieces of paint- 
ed paper, he became the subject of church discipline, and 
5 



50 IMPORTANT MEETING. 

if he ,ersisted, was ejected from the visible church of 
Christ. But thousands of slaveholders were permitted to 
gamble with immortal souls — speculate in human blood- 
redeemed beings — and were all the time recognized as 
worthy members of the church of Christ, and were com- 
forted, first by the direct countenance, co-partnership and 
participation of their own ministers, and next, by the si- 
lence and fellowship of northern professors of the same de- 
nomination. The southern churches were thoroughly 
corrupt, and would remain so as long as tlie churches of 
the north refrained from bearing a testimony for God against 
their crimes. 

One fact would show the state of feeling amongst Christ- 
ians at the south. The editor of a religious newspaper, 
the Charleston Southern Baptist, had recently stated in 
behalf of his brethren around him, the following views : 
' We do not contemplate Slavery with hatred and horror, 
and our southern people do deny in the abstract, the in- 
justice of slavery. We think that we can prove that slavery 
is not necessarily founded on injustice !' 

Mr. Thompson proceeded to support the motion for an 
ororanization, at considerable length, and advanced a va- 
riety of arguments and illustrations, which, as we cannot 
correctly report, we must pass over. He concluded by 
saying — My hope is in the churches. I earnestly desire 
that the abolition feeling of the North may flow onwards 
towards the South, through the sanctifying channels of 
the Christian churches. There are millions in this and 
every land, whose help I should deplore, unless checked 
and controlled by the wisdom and authority of those who 
fear God. The humble, prayerful and believing follower 
of Christ is the man to wliom we must look. The man 
who seeks and enjoys the royal privilege of audience with 
the Deity. The man that grasps the promises, that in 
Christ are yea and amen to those that believe. The man 
who looks to rescue, not the slave alone, but the slave's 
master — to this man we must look. I love the cause in 
v/hich we are encrajred too well, to wish to see it under the 
conduct of irreligious, and therefore irrrsponsiblc men. 
I feel little anxiety to enlist the unsanctificd eloquence of 
the demagouge. I would not make a speech to win a 



IMPORTANT MEETING. 51 

rabble multitude that would cover the spacious o«tir)mon 
that adorns your city ; but I would weep and plead till 
midnight, or the blushing of the morn, to gain the right- 
eous man whose faith, when exerted, grasps omnipotence, 
and whose effectual fervent prayer would avail to the speedy 
overthrow of the unhallowed institution. 



( 52 ) 



MR. THOMPSON'S FAST LECTURE. 

In these days of slavish servility and malignant preju- 
dices, we are presented occasionally with some beautiful 
specimens of christian obedience and courage. One of 
these is seen in the opening of the North Bennett-street 
Methodist meeting-house, in Boston, to the advocates forjthe 
honor of God, the salvation of our country, and the freedom 
of enslaved millions in our midst. As the pen of the his- 
torian, in after years, shall trace the rise, progress and 
glorious triumph of the abolition cause, he will delight to 
record and posterity will delight to read, the fact that 
when all other pulpits were dumb, all other churches closed, 
on the subject of slavery, in Boston, the boasted 'cradle 
OF LIBERTY,' — there was one pulpit that would speak out, 
one church that would throw open its doors in behalf of the 
down trodden victims of American tyranny, and that was 
the pulpit and the church above alluded to. The primi- 
tive spirit of Methodism is beginning to revive with all 
its holy zeal and courage, and it will not falter until the 
Methodist churches are purged from the pollution of slave- 
ry, and the last slave in the land stands forth a redeemed 
and regenerated being. 

On Fast Day morning, 9th inst. Mr. Thompson gave a 
very powerful discourse from the pulpit of the Bennett- 
street meeting-house. The house was thronged to excess 
at an early hour ; and although the crowded auditory had to 
wait for the appearance of Mr. Thompson, an hour beyond 
the tirne appointed for the meeting, (he having had the erro- 
neous impression that the services commenced at 11, instead 
of 10 o'clock,) yet their attention was rivtted to the end. 



MR. Thompson's fast lecture. 53 

Mr. Thompson tcok for his text the 28th chapter of 
Isaiah, exclusive of the two last verses. He stated that he 
had made choice of the chapter just read, because of its 
full, significant, and emphatic bearing upon that grave and 
interesting topic, to which it was expected he would that 
day draw the attention of his hearers. The text contained 
all that was necessary to illustrate the importance of atten- 
tion to the subject of slavery, and explain the duties con- 
nected with that subject. It pointed out the consequences 
flowing from a faithlul discharge of those duties, and more- 
over, directed us to the means by which we were to bring 
others to a sense of their sins, and the discharge of their 
obligations. Thus was the subject in its length and its 
breadth, brought before us. Founding our remarks upon 
the word of God, and carefully drawing our directions 
thence, we should be kept from falling into error, touching 
our faith and practice. 

To whom was this chapter addressed? 

The chapter was manifestly addressed, not to the pro- 
fane, ungodly, and openly irreligious, but to those who 
professed to serve God — persons scrupulously attentive to 
the externals of piety. ' Declare unto my i'eople their 

TRANSGRESSIONS UUtO the HOUSE of JaCOB their SINS.' — 

unto those who seek me daily, who delight to know my 
ways, who ask of me the ordinances of justice, who take 
delight in approaching to God, who fast often, who afflict 
their souls, who bow down their heads as bulrushes, who 
spread sackcloth and ashes under them. Shew unto these 
their fransgrcssimis and their sins. 
What were the sins of this people ? 

1. In the day of their fast they found pleasure. It was 
not a day of inward mortification — of penitent prostration 
of soul — but of Pharisaical and self-complacent attention 
to outward forms and ceremonies, the observance of which 
obtained for them amongst men the reputation of superior 
sanctity. 

2. On that day they exacted all their labors. While 
appearing to serve God, they were robbing the poor — mul- 
tiplying tasks — growing rich by the labor of their slaves at 
home. 

3. They fasted for strife, and debate, and to smite with 
the fist of wickedness. Their fasts were too frequently 

5* 



54 MR. THOMPSON S 

mere political observances — for political ends. To pro- 
Tiiote the ends of war — animosity — sectarianism — contro- 
versy and strife. In a word, these outwardly holy and sancti- 
monious Jews were Hypocrites, Slaveholders, Oppress- 
ors, WARLIKE Politicians, neglectors of the great moral 
and social duties. 

What were this people to do ? 

1. Loose the hands of wickedness. Dissolve every unright- 
eous connection. Have no fellowship with sin or sin- 
ners, ^c. 

2. Undo the heavy burdens. Remove every unjust res- 
triction, taxation and disability, &lc. 

3. Let the oppressed go free. Set at liberty all held in 
slavery. All innocent captives, &.c. 

4. Break every yoke. Release from servitude all held 
hy unjust contracts. Abandon compulsory labor. 

5. Feed the hungry. 

6. Succor the friendless and homeless. 

7. Pill aivay pride and prejudice. 

8. Refrain from injurious speech. 
What effects were to follow ? 

1. Joy, peace, light, comfort. ' Then shall thy light 
break forth as the morning.' What could be more beauti- 
ful than the figure here employed? Light — morning 
light — reviving light — increasing light — strengthening light 
— welcome light. Light after darkness. Joy after sorrow. 
The light of morning to the languishing patient! The 
light of morning to the tempest-tost mariner ! The light 
of the morning to the sleepless captive. 

2. Restoration. ' Thine health shall spring forth speed- 
ily.' Bishop Lowth hath rendered the passage, * Thy 
wounds shall speedily be healed over.' And Dr. Clarke, 
'the scar of thy wounds shall be speedily removed.' 

3. Reputation. * Thy righteousness shall go before thee.' 
Thy justice shall be made manifest. Thy integrity shall 
appear to men. The world shall admire thy righteous con- 
duct. 

4. Defence. ' The glory of the Lord shall be thy rere- 
ward.' Or according to Lowth's translation — * The glory 
of Jehovah shall bring up the rear.' 

5. 2^he spirit of prayer — and the answer of prayer. 
• Then shall thou call, and the Lord shall answer ; thou 



f AST LECTURE. 55 

shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am ' — or, ' Lo, I am 
here. ' 

6. Brightness and light where all had been obscurity and 
darkness. * Then shall thy light rise in the obscurity, and 
thy darkness be as the noon day.' 

7. Divine direction. ' The Lord shall guide thee con- 
tinually.' By his Word, his Spirit, his Providence. 

8. Fertility, culture, beauty, order, freshness, fragrance. 
' Thou shalt be like a watered garden.' 

9. Health, purity, perpetuity, abundance. * Like a 
spring of water whose waters fail not.' 

10. The reparation of national dilapidations. * They 
that be of thee shall build the old waste places. Thou 

shalt RAISE UP THE FOUNDATIONS OF MANY GENERATIONS. 

Thou shalt be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer 
of paths to dwell inJ Or, according to Lowth, * And they 
that spring from thee shall build the ancient ruins. The 
foundations of old times they shall raise up. And thou 
shalt be called, the repairer, of the broken mounds — the 
restorer of paths to be frequented by inhabitants.* 

Thus, all the desolations of war and wickedness shall be 
repaired. 

Here are promised to a just and obedient people — Light, 
Health, Glory, Reputation, Defence, Direction, the Spirit 
of Prayer, the Answer to Prayer, Restoration, Fertility, 
Beauty and Perpetuity. 

To give the subject a present and practical bearing, he 
should consider generally the nature and advantages of 
national penitence. 

I. The scriptural manifestations of a genuine national 
repentance. 

True penitence did not consist in profession, outward 
prostration, dejection of countenance, bodily austerities, 
grievous penances, abounding ordinances, or splendid be- 
nevolent enterprises. All these might exist with Slavery, 
Oppression, Uncharitableness, Persecution, Proscription, 
and Prejudice. True repentance was a living, active 
principle, producing righteousness in the life — the aban- 
donment of every wicked way. God detested external 
humiliations and sacrifices when they were unaccompanied 
by poverty of soul and practical piety. 

Did this nation give forth those proofs of penitence 



SB MR. I-HOMPSON'S 

which the scriptures required ? Was there not slavery, 
oppression, the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and 
the speaking of vanity, abroad over the whole nation — and 
amongst professing christians, too, notwithstanding the 
schools, colleges, churches. Missionary Societies, Bible 
Societies, and other institutions that had been multiplied 
without number ? Were the fasts of this people such as God 
had chosen ? Look at the slave regions of the land ! How 
black the gloom! How death-like the stillness! How 
deep the guilt ! How awful the curse resting upon them ! 
Look over the entire face of the country. The general 
and state governments utterly paralyzed. The churches 
thoroughly corrupted. The people in guilty indifference. 
The ministers of religion almost universally dumb — or 
openly and wickedly vindicating oppression. Mr. Thomp- 
son then went on to specify at length the acts necessary 
to prove the genuine penitence of the nation. 

Individuals should emancipate their slaves. The gen- 
eral Government should be forced by the voice of the 
people to purge the District of Columbia. The States 
should legislate in accordance with the principles of the 
constitution and the requirements of the text. 

The churches ought to act. Let the churches preach 
emancipation — warn slaveholders — put them under church 
discipline — bear with them for a time, and if fruit be not 
borne, put them out of the church, which they defile by 
their soul-trafficking pursuits. 

n. The distinguished and abounding blessings secured 
to a truly penitent and obedient nation. 

Under this division, Mr. Thompson dwelt largely upon 
the safety and Rdvnntnges on7nincdiotc cj/iancipaiion, and il- 
lustrated those portions of the text which speak of the bless- 
ings consequent upon the adoption of a righteous, merciful 
and truly obedient course of conduct. 

1. The spread of knowledge. 

2. The dissemination of the scriptures. 

3. The acquisition of national character. 

4. Restoration of fertility to a now almost exhausted 
soil. 

5. Augmentation of the wants of the population, and 
the consequent increased demand for the manufactures 
of the country. 



FAST LECTURE. 



57 



6. A pouring out the spirit of prayer. 

7. A blessing upon the various enterprises to advance 
the kingdom of Christ at home and abroad. 

These, and a multitude of blessings of an infinitely 
various character, would be the portion of this nation, 
if the commands of God's word were obeyed, and the op- 
pressed set free. 

III. The imperative duty of such as desire to advance 
the blessedness and prosperity of their country in church 
and state, by bringing the people to true repentance. 

' Cry aloud, spare not, ^'c .' 

These words implied the adoption of all proper means 
of exhibiting, clearly and universully, the transgressions 
of the people. These means should be open, bold, unspar- 
ing, effectual. The drowsiness, deafness, indifference, 
avarice, and blindness of the people required a fearless and 
unsparing denunciation of sin. 

Not only was it our duty to show the folly, inexpediency' 
unprofitableness, and impolicy of slavery, but the trans- 
gression and the sin of slavery. 

Much fault was in the present day found with tlie 
measures of certain Abolitionists, because their measures 
were strong, bold, and unsparing. Let it be remember- 
ed, that crying 'aloud' was God's method — God's com- 
mand. 

Finally — God's promises were invariably connected 
with obedience to certain commands, having reference 
either to the outward conduct or the dispositions of the 
heart. In the case in question, if the duties prescribed 
were not performed, instead of the blessings promised, 
their opposites would be our lot. Instead oi" light, there 
would be darkness. Instead of reputation, dishonor and 
infamy. Instead of light and comfort, horror and shame. 
Instead of moral and physical fertility, all would be bar- 
renness. Instead of advancement, decay. Instead of 
strength, weakness. Instead of guidance, perplexity. In^ 
stead of salvation, dishonor and destruction. 



(58) 



REMARKS ON THE PEACE aUESTION. 

Mr, Thompson's remarks on the question, * Would the 
slaves of this coimtry he justified in resorti'ng to physical 
violence to obtain their freedom ? — From the Liberator of 
April 18, 1835. 

Mr. Thompson addressed the meeting, and spoke at 
very considerable length, but we are only able to furnish a 
k\v of his remarks. 

He differed altogether from a gentleman who had gone 
before him, who considered the question ill-judged and 
ill-timed. He (Mr. T.) regarded it as both necessary and 
opportune. The principles of abolitionists were only par- 
tially understood. They were also frequently willfully and 
wickedly misrepresented. Doctrines the most dangerous, 
designs the jnost bloody, were constantly imputed to them. 
What was )nore common, than to see it published to the 
world, that abolitionists were seeking to incite the slaves 
to rebellion and murder ? It was due to themselves and 
to the world, to speak boldly out upon tlie question now 
before the meeting. Christians should be told what were 
the real sentiments of abolitionists, that they may decide 
whether, as Christians, they could join them. Slave- 
holders should know what abolitionists thought and 
meant, that they might judge of the probable tendency of 
their doctrines upon their welfare and existence. The 
Slaves should, if possible, know what their friends at a 
distance meant, and what they would have them do to has- 
ten the consummation of the present struggle. 

Tf any human being in the universe of God would be 
justified in resorting to physical violence to free himself 



REMARKS ON THE PEACE QUESTION. 59 

from unjust restraints, that human being was the American 
Slave. If the infliction of unmerited and unnumbered 
wrongs couhl justify the shedding of blood, the slave would 
be justified in resisting to blood. If the political principles 
of any nation could justify a resort to violence in a strug- 
gle against oppression, they were the principles of this 
nation, which teach that resistance to oppression is obedi- 
ence to the lav/ of nature and God. He regarded the 
slavery of this land, and all christian lands, as * the execra- 
ble sum of all human villanies ' — the grave of life and love- 
liness — the foe of God and man — the auxiliary of hell — the 
machinery of damnation. Such were his deliberate con- 
victions respecting slavery. Yet with these convictions, 
if he could make himself heard from the bay of Boston to 
the frontiers of Mexico, he would call upon every slave to 
commit his cause to God, and abide the issue of a peace- 
ful and moral warfare in his behalf He believed in the 
existence, omniscience, omnipotence and providence of 
God. He believed that every thing that was good might be 
much better accomplished without blood than with it. He 
repudiated the sentiment of the Scottish bard — 

* We will drain our dearest veins, 

But we will be free. 
Lay the proud oppressor low, 
'J'yrants fall in every foe. 
Liberty's in every blow, 

Let us do or rfie.' 

He would say to the enslaved, 'Hurt not a hair of your 
master's head. It is not consistent with the will of your 
God, that you should do evil that good may come. In that 
book in which your God and Saviour has revealed his will, 
it is written — Loce your enemies. Mess them that curse you, 
do good to them that hate you, and pr«?/ for them which 
despitefully use you and persecute you ; that ye may be the 
children of your Father which is in heaven. Avenge not 

yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath.' 

He (]\Ir. T.) would, however, remind the master of the 

awful import of the following words — ' Vengeance is mine; 

I loill repay, saitii the lord.' 

To the slave he would continue — ' Therefore, if thine 



60 REMARKS ON THE 

enemy hunger, feed him ; if he thirst, give him drink. Be 
not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.' 

Mr. Thompson also quoted Eph. vi. 5; Col. iii. 22; 
Titus ii. 9 ; 1. Peter ii. 18 — 23. In proportion, however, 
as he enjoined upon the slave patience, submission and 
forgiveness of injuries, he would enjoin upon the master 
the abandonment of his wickedness. He would tell him 
plainly the nature of his great transgression — the sin of 
robbing God's poor, — withholding the hire of the laborer,— 
trafficking in the immortal creatures of God. He did not 
like the fashionable, but nevertheless despicable practice 
of preaching obedience to slaves, without preaching re- 
pentance to masters. He (Mr. T.) would preach forgive- 
ness and the rendering of good for evil to the slaves of the 
plantation ; but before he quitted the property, he would, 
if it were possible, thunder forth the threatenings of God's 
word into the ears of the master. This was the only con- 
sistent course of conduct. In proportion as w^e taught sub- 
mission to the slave, we should enjoin repentance and resti- 
tution upon the master. Nay, more, said Mr. Thompson, if 
we teach submission to the slave, we are bound to exert our 
own peaceful energies for his deliverance. 

Shall we say to the slave, ' Avenge not yourself,' and be 
silent ourselves in respect to his wrongs ? 

Shall we say, ' Honor and obey your masters,' and our- 
selves neglect to warn and reprove those masters ? 

Shall we denounce ' carnal weapons,' which are the 
only ones the slaves can use, and neglect to employ our 
moral and spiritual v.eapons in their behalf? 

Shall we tell them to beat their ' swords into plough- 
shares,' and their ' spears into pruning-hooks,' and neglect 
to give them the ' sword of the spirit, w hich is the word 
of God?' 

Let us be consistent. The principles of peace, and the 
forgiveness of injuries, are quite compatible with a bold, 
heroic and uncompromising hostility to sin, and a war of 
extermination with every principle, part and practice of 
American slavery. I hope no drop of blood will stain our 
banner of triumph and liberty. 1 hope no wail of the 
widow or the orplian will mingle with the shouts of our 
Jubilee. I trust ours will be a battle which the 'Prince 
of Peace' can direct, and ours a victory which angels can 
applaud. 



( 61 ) 



LETTER FROM NEW YORK. 

New York, April, 1835. 

My Dear Sir: — An opportunity offering of sending to 
Boston, I embrace it to put you in possession of two num- 
bers of the last London Abolitionist. You will perceive 
that the Editor is of your opinion, in reference to the mer- 
its of the letter sent by the B;iptists here to their brethren 
in London. An esteemed friend, a Biptist in Glasgow, 
James Johnson, Esq., in a letter received from him this 
morning, says, — ' how I blush for my brethren, the Baptists 
of America ! IIow could they pen such a paper as that 
they have sent to the denomination in London? I sup- 
pose you have seen it, and cut it up, and exposed it as it 
deserves. There is no shame with slavery : it degrades 
the oppressor as much as it degrades its victim. Minis- 
ters of the gospel, in that shameless defence of slavery, are 
found saying, ' The existence of our (national) union and 
its manifold blessings, depends on a faithful adherence to 
the principles and spirit of our constitution on this (slave- 
ry !) and all other points,' 'Away ! ' I think I hear you say, 
* with all these fancied blessings, rather than that cruelty, 
injustice, lust and licentiousness be permitted to disgrace 
the nation, insult God, and defy his righteous government! 
O Lord, arise for the help of the oppressed ! ' 

Dr. F. A. Cox of Hackney, near London, and the Rev. 
Mr. Hoby of Birmingham, arrived in safety in this city on 
Monday, and this morning departed for Philadelphia, on 
their way to the Biptist triennial convention in Richmond, 
Virginia. I earnestly pray that wherever they go, they 
may be disposed to bear an uncompromising testimony 
against the heaven provoking, church-corrupting soul- 
darkening and destroying abomination of this land — 
against a system which holds tens of thousands of the 
6 



62 LETTER FROM NEW YORK. 

Baptist churches in hateful bonds. Surely Dr. Cox, who 
is a member of the London Society for promoting the ex- 
tinction of slavery throughout the world, will not keep 
back any part of his message to his guilty brethren of the 
Baptist churches. 

1 had a fatiguing journey to Providence. I found the 
friends well, and anxiously expecting me. On Tues- 
day afternoon, I delivered my promised address before 
the ladies of Providence. Bstween 700 and 800 assem- 
bled in the Rev. Mr. Blain's church. It was truly a grati- 
fying sight. About 150 gentlemen were also present. 
After the Address a Society was formed, and a Constitu- 
tion adopted. Upwards of 100 ladies gave their names 
and subscriptions to the Society. Nearly 8100 were con- 
tributed. This is a very cheerinor commencement. Many 
more names will be obtained. The Society will prove a 
powerful auxiliary. 

I embarked on board the President yesterday noon. We 
had a fine run. I was introduced to Dr. Graham, the 
lecturer on the Science of Life, and found in him a very 
interesting companion. I arrived here about half past 6 
this morning. 

Yours aflfectionately, 

GEORGE THOMPSON. 



( 63 ) 



LETTER FROM ALBANY, N. Y. 

Albany, N. Y. April, 20, 1835, 

My Dear Garrison, — On Saturday morning, I left 
New York city by the Cliamplain steamboat for this place. 
The day was very cold, and the wind, which was right 
ahead, strong and piercing, so that 1 was not able to re- 
main long at a time upon deck. I saw enough, however, 
of the scenery of the Hudson to delight me. In some 
parts I was strongly reminded of Scotland. I expect 
much pleasure from a voyage, during the approaching fine 
weather, when I can gaze, without being nipped by the 
cold, upon the multiplied specimens of the sublime and 
beautiful, which are to be found along the banks. 

I found Mr. Phelps in this city, waiting for me. He had 
given one address, and prepared the way for further, and 
i trust efficient exertions. Y^esterday, (Sunday) I preach- 
ed for the Rev. Mr. Kirk, and in the evening, delivered an 
address to the colored people ; they have a neat place of 
worship, but are at present without a pastor. In this 
church the Rev. Nathaniel Paul used to preach. 

Sunday night. I have just returned from the 4th Pres- 
byterian church, where I have lectured to a very respec- 
table audience. I was favored with fixed attention to an 
address which lasted about two hours. On Wednesday 
evening, I lectured here again. 

Wednesday morning, 22d. I have just returned with 
brother Phelps from Troy, where I lectured last evening. 
The place of meeting was the lower room of the Court 
House, which was respectably filled, but it was a very bad 
place for public speaking, the roof being low, and broken 
bv divisions and subdivisions. An undisturbed indiffer- 



G4 LETTER 

ence has hitherto reigned in the city on the subject of 
slavery. The ignorance of the people, in reference to the 
views and plans of the abolitionists, has been profound — 
the prejudice against color strong, and the apathy deep 
and deplorable. The darkness is, however, broken. It can 
be night no longer. There are a few who seem deter- 
mined to ' take hold,' as the Americans say, and I doubt 
not but the modern Trojans will be soon in the field, en- 
gaged in a strife infinitely more dignified than that of their 
illustrious namesakes. 

Thursday morning, 23r/. Last evening, I delivered a 
second lecture in the 4th Presbyterian church. The au- 
dience rather more numerous than at the first meeting. 
Two days were occupied in seeking to obtain a church 
more eligibly situated, but in vain, Mr, Delevan and oth- 
er gentlemen have used their influence to obtain a church 
in the upper part of the city, but so far, to no purpose. 
Yesterday afternoon, Mr. Phelps and myself met a com- 
mittee of gentlemen, when it was resolved to hold a pub- 
lic meeting as early as possible, and submit the constitu- 
tion of an Anti-Slavery Society. Last evening's lecture 
appears to have done good, and I have no doubt that, 
could I remain and deliver a covrse of lectures, we should 
be able to form a good socipty, if not carry the entire city. 
This afternoon, Mr Phelps and myself go to Troy. I 
give my second lecture this evenincf. 

I am much pleased to find that Mr. May has orot fairly 
to work. His labors will greatly advance the cause in 
Massachusetts. 

I write, as you perceive, upon a Circular put forth by 
Mr. Israel Lewis. The colored people of this city lield a 
meeting on Monday evening to express their opinions in 
reference to the contents of this document, and decided 
almost unanimously, that it would not be proper for the 
colored people to send their children to Canada for edu- 
cation, or encourage the emigration to that settlement of 
any free persons. They considered it the duty of the 
whole population to remain here, and combat the wicked 
and cruel prejudices at present operating against them ; they 
considered the Circular based upon Colonization princi- 
ples, and therefore an appeal to the prejudiced, rather than 



FROM ALBANY, N. Y. 65 

to the unprejudiced Anti-Slavery portion of the commu- 
nity. These conclusions are fully in accordance with my 
own views of the matter. I cannot but regard the Circular 
as an appeal to ihe prejudices of the whites, — and the scl- 
Jishness of the colored peojile. I rejoice that Wilberforce 
offers an asylum for the absconding slave, and hope it 
will be sustained as a city of refuge for hijn ; but I want 
the free colored man to remain here, and for a while to 
suffer, toil, and mourn, if it must be so, the victim of the 
prejudices of a p ale-ski jmcd cirisiocracy, that he may 
share the common lot of his class, and by making a bold 
stand against conduct so inhuman, hasten the time, when 
the monster prejudice shall spread his dark wings, and 
wheel his flight to the nethermost hell, where he was be- 
gotten. 

Ever, most affectionately yours, 

GEORGE THOMPSON. 



( 66) 



MR. THOMPSON'S SPEECH AT NEW YORK, 

AT THE MEETING OF THE AMERICAN A. S. SOCIETY. 

He commenced his address by declaring that the feel- 
ings of his heart were too deep for utterance. When he 
thought where he stood, of the topic on which he was call- 
ed to speak, upon the mighty interests which were involv- 
ed — upon his own responsibility to God — upon the des- 
tinies of thousands which might hinge upon the results of 
the present meeting — and when he reflected upon the ig- 
norance, the wickedness, and the mighty prejudices he 
had to encounter ; on the two and a half million of clients, 
whose cause was committed to, his feeble advocacy, with 
all their rights, eternal and irreversible, he trembled, and 
felt almost disposed to retire. And when, in addition to 
all, he remembered that there were at this moment, in this 
land, in perfect health, in full vigor of mind and body, 
countrymen of his own, once pledged to the very lips in 
behalf of this cause, and with an authority which must 
command a wide and powerful influence, who had yet left 
it to the care of youth and ignorance, he felt scarce able 
to proceed, and almost willing to leave another blank in 
the history of this day's proceedings. 

He had said that he had prejudices to overcome ; and 
they met him with this rebuff" — ' you are a foreigner.' I 
am, said Mr. T. I plead guilty to the charge: where is 
the sentence ? Yet 1 am not a foreigner. I am no foreign- 
er to the language of this country. I am not a foreigner 
to the religion of this country. I am not a foreigner to 
the God of this country. Nor to her interests — nor to 
her religious and political institutions. Yet I was not 
born here. W^ill those who urge this objection tell me 
howl could help it? If my crime is the having been 
born in another country, have I not made the best repara- 
tion in my power, by removing away from it, and coming 
as soon as I could to where 1 should have been born ? 



SPEECH AT NEW YORK. 67 

(Much laughter.) I have come over the waves of the 
miglity deep, to look upon your land and to visit you. Has 
not one God made us all? Who shall dare to split the 
human family asunder? who shall presume to cut the link 
w hich binds all its members to mutual amity ? I am no 
foreigner to yoiir hopes or your fears, and I stand where 
there is no discriminating hue but the color of the soul, 
I am not a foreigner, I am a man : and nothing which af- 
fects human nature is foreign to me, (I speak the lan- 
guage of a slave.) 

• But what have you known about our country? How 
have you been prepared to unravel the perplexities of our 
policy and of our party interests? How did you get an 
intimate acquaintance with our customs, our manners, our 
habits of thought and of action, and all the peculiari- 
ties of our national condition and character, the moment 
you set your foot upon our shores ? ' And is it necessary 
I should know all this before I can be able or fit to enun- 
ciate the truths of the Bible ? to declare the mind and 
will of God as he has revealed it in his word ? 

' But you do not care about us or our welfare.' Then 
Avhy did I leave my own country to visit yours ? It was 
not certainly to better my circumstances : for they have 
not been bettered. I never did, and I never will, better 
them by advocating this cause. 1 may enlarge my heart 
by it : I may make an infinite number of friends amiOng 
the wretched by it : but I never can or will fill my purse 
by it. ' But you are a foreigner — and have no right to 
speak here.' I dismiss this — I am weary of it. I liave 
an interest in America, and in all that pertains to her. 
And let my right hand forget its cunning, and let my 
tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, if I am ever capa- 
ble of maligning her, or sowing the seeds of animosi- 
ty among her inhabitants. He might truly say, though in 
the words of another, 

I love thee, witness heaven above, 
That I this land, — this people love; 
Nor love thee less, when I do tell 
Of crimes that in thy bosom dwell. 
There is oppression in thy hand — 
A sin, corrupting all the land; — 



/y-)>i^^ 



68 SPEECH 

There is within thy gates a pest — 
Gold — and a Babylonish vest. 
Repent thee, then, and swiftly bring 
Forth from the camp th' accursed thing j 
Consign it to remorseless fire — 
Watch, till the latest spark expire; 
Then strew its ashes on the wind, 
Kor leave an atom wreck behind! 

Yet while he said this, he would also add, if possible, 
with still stronger emphasis, Let my right hand forget her 
cunning, and let my tongue cleave to the roof of my 
mouth, if I desert the cause of American abjects — or 
cease to plead, so long as the clanking of chains shall be 
heard in the very porch of the temple, and beneath the 
walls of your capitol. If any shall still say, I have no 
right to speak, I will agree to quit the assembly, on con- 
dition that that objecter will furnish to me a plea which 
shall avail in the day of judgment, when my Maker shall 
ask me why I did not do, in America, that which all the 
feelings of my heart, and all the dictates of my judgment, 
and all the principles too, of God's own gospel, so power- 
fully prompted me to do? If the great Judge shall say to 
me ' When human misery claimed you, why did you not 
plead the cause of sufiering humanity?' will any one give 
me an excuse that will avail as a reply to such a question? 
Is there any such excuse ? [Here lie paused.] Shall it 
be because the misery for which I should have pleaded 
was across the water? If this is the principle, then 
cease your splendid cmbassiesof mercy to China andllin- 
doostan : abandon the glorious missionary cause : and let 
us read in your papers and periodicals no more of those 
eloquent and high toned predictions about the speedy con- 
version of the world. 

' But you are a monarchist, you were born the subject 
of a king, and we are republicans.' Yes, and because I 
loved the latter best, I left the dominions of a monarch, 
and came to the shores of a free Republic. I gave up tlie 
tinsel and the trappings of a king, for the plain coat and 
the simple manners of your President. But granting me 
to be a monarchist, will that do as an excuse before the 
King of kings, the Lord of lords ? 



\ 



AT NEW YORK, 69 

* But, we quarrelled once. You taxed us, and we would 
not be taxed : and now we will have nothing nriore 
to do with you.' Indeed ; and may our arlizans construct 
your machinery, and our Irishmen feed your furnaces, and 
dior your canals ; may our advocates come to your bar, and 
our ministers to your pulpits, and shall all, all be made 
welcome but the advocate of the Slave ? Should 1 be wel- 
come to you all, if I had but renounced the cause of hu- 
manity? 

' But the newspapers abuse you — they are all against 
you ; and therefore you had better go back to where you 
came from.' Yes : if I fear the newspapers. But sup- 
posing I care nothing about the newspapers, and am heart- 
ily willing that every shaft that can fly from all the press- 
es of the land shall be launched against me, is it a good 
reason then 1 Leave me, I pray you, to take care of the 
newspapers, and the newspapers to take care of me : I am 
entirely easy on that score. 

But now as to the question before us. The gentle- 
man from Kentucky, [Mr. Birney,] has gone very fully 
into its civil and political bearings : that aspect of it I 
shall not touch : I have nothing to do with it. I shall 
treat it on religious ground exclusively ; on principles 
which cannot be impugned, and by arguments which can- 
not be refuted. T ask the abolition of slavery from among 
you, not because it doonis its victims to hard labor, nor 
because it compels them to a crouching servility, and de- 
prives them of the exercise of civil rights: though all 
these are true. No: I ask for the illumination of the 
minds of immortal beings of our species; I seek to de- 
liver woman from the lash, and from all that pollutes and 
that degrades her; I plead lor the ordinances of religion ; 
for the diffusion of knowledge ; for the sanctincation of 
marriage ; for the participation of the gospel. And If you 
ask my authority, I answer there it is (pointing to the Bible) 
and let him that refutes me, refute me from that volume. 

The resolution I offer has respect to the moral and spir- 
itual condition of your colored population, and I do say 
that while one shih of your entire population are left to 
perish without the word of God, or the ministry of the 
gospel, that your splendid missionary operations abroad, 
justly expose you before the whole world, to the charge of 



70 SPEECH 

inconsistency. Your boast is, that your missionaries have 
gone into all the world ; that you are consulting with the 
other christian nations lor the illumination of the whole 
earth; and you have your missionary stations in all climes 
visited by the sun, from the frosts of Lapland to the sunny 
isles of Greece, and the scorching plains of Hindoostan ; 
amidst the Chnstless literature of Persia, and the revolt- 
ing vices of Constantinople. God grant that they may 
multiply a thousand fold — and continue to spread, till not 
a spot shall be left on the surface of our ruined world, 
where the ensign of the cross shall not have been set up. 
But will you, at the same time, refuse this gospel to one 
sixth of your own home-born population ? And will you not 
hear me, when I ask that that word of life, wliich you are 
sending to the nations of New Holland and all the islands 
of the farthest sea, may be given to your slaves? When 
I pleail for two millions and a half of human beings in the 
midst of your own land, left nearly, if not wholly, desti- 
tute of the blessings of God's truth ? What spiritual wants 
have the heathen which the poor slaves have not ? And 
what obligation binds you to the one, which does not 
equally bind you to the other ? You own your responsi- 
bility to the heathen of diIk r parts of the world, why not 
the heatlien of this continent? And if to the heathen of 
one portion of the continent, why not to the no less hea- 
then in another j)ortiot) of it ? 

The resolution has reference to the diffusion of the Bible : 
and here I am invulnerable. You have offered to give, 
within twenty years, a copy of the Scriptures to every 
family of the world ; you are now translating the sacred 
volutne into all the languages of the earth, and scattering 
its healing leaves wherever men are found ; and may 1 not 
say a word for the more than two millions at your door? 
Men whom you will not allow so much as to look into 
that book ? Whom you forbid to be taught to read it, un- 
der pain of death? Why shall not these have the lamp of 
life? Are these no portion of the families of the south, 
whom you are pledged to supply? Is it any wonder there 
should be darkness in your land, that there should be spir- 
itual leanness in your churches, that there should be Po- 
pery among you, when you thus debar men of the Bible? 
Is it not a fact, that while you have said you will give a 



AT NEW YORK. 71 

Bible to every family in the world, not one of the families 
of slaveholders in the Southern States is to be found in- 
cluded in the benefaction ? Of all the four hundred and 
sixty thousand families of your slaves, show me one that is 
included in your purpose or your plan. There is not one. 
If it would be wicked to blot out the sun from the heav- 
ens ; if it would be wicked to deprive the earth of its cir- 
cumambient air, or to dry up its streams of water, is it 
less wicked to withhold tiie word of God from men? to 
shut them out from the means of saving knowledge? to 
annihilate the cross? to take away the corner stone of hu- 
man hope ? to legislate away from your fellow-beings the 
will of God as recorded in his own word. 

In view of the retributions of the judgment, I plead for 
these men, disinherited of their birthright. And once for all, 
I say, that every enterprise to enlighten, con vert, and bless the 
world, must be branded with the charge of base hypocrisy, 
while millions at home are formally and by law deprived of 
the gospel of life, of the very letter of the Bible. And 
what has been the result? Christianity has been dethron- 
ed; she is gone: there is no weeping mercy to bless the 
land of the slave; it is banished forever, as far as human 
laws can effect it. Brethren, I know not how you feel, nor 
can I tell you how I feel, when I behold you urging, by 
every powerful argument, the conversion of the world, 
while such a state of things is at your door ; when I see 
you all tenderness for men you never saw ; and yet seeming 
destitute of all pity for those you see every day. 

Suppose, now, that in China the efforts of your mission- 
aries should make one of the dark heathen a convert to 
the peaceful doctrine of the cros-s. What would be the 
duty of such a convert? Learning that there was a coun- 
try where millions of his fellow sinners were yet destitute 
of the treasure that had enriched him for eternity, would 
he not leave the loved parents of his childhood, and the 
place of his father's sepulchres, and tracing his way 
across the waters, would he not come to bestow the boon 
upon men in America? Would he not come here to en- 
lighten our darkness? And would he not be acting reas- 
ona!>ly ? according to the principles and commands of the 
very Bible you gave him ? 

And now I ask, what is the Christianity of the South ? 



72 SPEECH 

Is it not a chain-forging Christianity? a vvhip-phitting 
Christianity? a marriage-denouncing, or, at best, a mar- 
riacre discouraging Christianity. Is it not, above all, a Bi- 
ble withholding Christianity ? You know that the evi- 
dence is incontestible. I anticipate the objection. ' We 
cannot do otherwise. It is true, there are in South Caro- 
lina not twelve slaveholders who instruct their slaves; but 
we can't help it; there is an impassible wall; we can't 
throw the Bijile over it ; and if we attempt to make our 
way through, there stands the gibbet on the other side. 
It is not to be helped.' Why? 'SLAVERY is there.' 
Then away with slavery. ' Ay, but how ? Do you want 
the slave to cut his master's throat?' By no means. God 
forbid. I would not have him hurt one hair of his head, 
even if it would secure him freedom for life. * How then 
are we to get rid of it ? By carrying them home ? ' Home ? 
where ? Where is their home ? VVhere, but where they were 
born ? I say, let them live on the soil where they (iist saw 
the light and breathed the air. Here, here, in the midst of 
you, let justice be done. ' What? release all our slaves? 
turn them loose ? spread a lawless baud of paupers, va- 
grants, and lawless depredators upon the country?' Not 
at all. We have no such thought. All we ask is, that 
the control of masters over their slaves may be subjected 
to supervision, and to legal responsibility. Cannot this be 
done ? Surely it can. There is even now enough of en- 
ergy in the land to annihilate the whole evil ; but all wc 
ask is permission to publish truth, and to set forth the 
claims of the great and eternal principles of justice and 
equal rights ; and then let them work out their own re- 
sults. Let the social principle operate. Leave man to 
work upon man, and church upon church, and one body 
of people upon another, until the slave States themselves 
shall voluntarily loose the bonds and break every yoke. 
All this is legitimate and fair proceeding. It is common 
sense. It is sound philosophy. Against this course slave- 
ry cannot stand long. How was it abolished in England ? 
By the fiat of the legislature, you will say. True : but 
was there no preaching of the truth beforehand ? Was 
there no waking up of the public mind ? no appeals ? no 
investigations? no rousing of public feelings, and concen- 
tration of the public energy ? Had there been nothing 



AT NEW YORK. 73 

of this, the glorious act would never have passed the Par- 
liament; and the British dependencies would still have 
mourned under the shade of this moral Bohon Upas. 

It was well said by one of the gentlemen who preced- 
ed me, that there is a conscience at the South ; and that 
there is the word of God at the South ; and they have 
fears and hopes like our own : and in penning the appeals 
of reason and religion we cannot be laboring in vain. I 
will therefore say, that the hope of this cause is in the 
churches of God. There are church members enough of 
themselves to decide the destinies of slavery, and I charge 
upon the 17,000 ministers in this land, that they do keep 
this evil within our country ; that they do not remem- 
ber them that are in bonds as bound with them ; that they 
fatten on the plunder of God's poor, and enrich themselves 
by the price of their souls. Were these all to do their 
duty, this monster, which has so long been brooding 
over our land, would soon take his flight to the nether- 
most hell, where he was begotten. How can these refuse 
to hear me? They are bound to hear; Unitarians, Pres- 
byterians, Methodists, Baptists, Episcopalians, be their 
name or their sect's name what it may, are bound to hear 
— for a minister is the messenger of the Lord of Hosts : 
and if they shall withhold their aid when God calls for it, 
the Lord will make them contemptible in the eyes of all 
the people. 

Finally : this Anti-Slavery Society is not opposing one 
evil only : it is setting its face against all the vices of the 
land. What friend of religion ought to revile it ? Surely 
the minister of Christ least of all ; for it is opening his 
path before him ; and that over a high wall that he dare 
not pass. Can the friend of education be against us? A 
society that seeks to pour the light of science over minds 
loner benio-hted: a society that aims to make the beast a 
man: and^the man an angel? Ought the friend of the 
Bible to oppose it ? Surely not. Nor can any of these 
various interests of benevolence thrive until slavery is first 
removed out of the way. 

Mr. T. in closing, observed that he had risen to-day un- 
der peculiar feelings. Two of his countrymen had been 
deputed lo visit this country, one of them a member of the 
Committee of the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Soci- 
7 



74 SPEECH AT NEW YORK. 

ety, who had been appointed with the express object of 
extinguishing slavery throughout the world, and belonging 
to a christian denomination which had actually memorial- 
ized all their sister churches in this land on the subject. 
My heart leaped when I learned they were to be here : 
especially that one of them whose name stood before the 
blank which is to be left in the record of this day's pro- 
ceedings. Where is he now ? He is in this city : why is 
he not here? The reason I shall leave for himself to ex- 
plain. Sir, said Mr. T., in this very fact I behold a new 
proof of the power of the omnipotence of slavery : by its 
torpedo power a man has been struck dumb, who was elo- 
quent in England on the side of its open opposers. What ! 
is it come to this? Shall he or shall I advocate the cause 
of emancipation, of immediate emancipation, only be- 
cause we are Englishmen? Perish the thought ! before I 
can entertain such an idea I must be recreant to all the 
principles of the Bible, to all the claims of truth, of hon- 
or, of humanity. No sir : if man is not the same in eve- 
ry latitude ; if he would advocate a cause with eloquence 
and ardor in Exeter Hall, in the midst of admiring thou- 
sands, but because he is in America can close his lips and 
desert the cause he once espoused, I denounce, I abjure 
him. Let him carry his pliilanthropy home again ; there 
let him display it in the loftiest or the tenderest strains ; 
but never let him step his foot abroad, until he is prepared 
to show to the world that he is the friend of his kind. 

The following resolution was offered by Mr. Thomp- 
son, and adopted by the Society. 

Resolved, That the practice of suffering a sixth portion 
of the population of this Christian land to perish, destitute 
of the volume of Revelation, and the ministry of the Gos- 
pel, is inconsistent with the profession of zeal for the con- 
version of the world. 



( 75 ) 



MR. THOMPSOxN'S REMARKS, 

AT THE NEW ENGLAND A. S. CONVENTION. 

Mr. Thompson arose, and delivered liis valedictory, in 
accordance with the resolution which he offered, — in sub- 
stance, giving thanks to God for his blessings on the Conven- 
tion. He discoursed most feelingly and happily on the joyful, 
yet solemn circumstances in which he had been placed dur- 
ing its session, and presumed he expressed the minds of all 
his beloved associates. He dwelt on the striking eviden- 
ces of harmony and love so richly enjoyed, — the moral 
strength and character of the members, — their entire 
unanimity of feeling and action of the great principles of 
abolition, and upon every other point of christian and 
philanthropic action : though composed of numerous sects 
often discordant and jarring in their interests and locali- 
ties, they would not probably suspect, till they returned to 
their homes, that they had been among sectarians. 

He enlarged upon the immutability of the principles 
upon which they stood, the unflinching resolution with 
which they were sustained, nothing daunted by the ter- 
rors of public opinion, — yea, working in the might and 
under the banner of Omnipotence, to change its more than 
Ethiopean hue, and drawing over its energies to the aid of 
humanity and religion. 

He held up slaveholding in all its aspects as a shi, — 
God-dishonoring, soul-destroying siji ; which must be im- 
mediately and forever abandoned, — that immediate eman- 
cipation was the only system combining vitality and ener- 
gy^ — while all others were as changeable as the chamel- 
eon, and no one could find their principles. 

He spoke of the holy influence which God had thrown 
around them during their meetings, felt himself on holy 
ground, and hoped that all would profit by the unspeaka- 
ble privileges of this solemn convocation. He rejoiced 



76 REMARKS, AT THE N. E. CONVENTION, 

to find responsive chords in the hearts of the noble com- 
pany of fathers and brethren with whom he had been per- 
mitted to take sweet counsel, and co-operate with them in 
behalf of the oppressed, down-trodden Slave, 

He truly thanked God for this auspicious era, — that his 
warmest expectations had been more than realized, and 
he'felt conscious that he expressed the inmost feelings of 
his beloved associates who had been iavored with this in- 
teresting season. He hoped they would ail carry home 
those holy emotions which the spirit of God had so boun- 
tifully awakened in their hearts, and never lose sight of 
the lofty and thrilling claims of humanity and justice, nor 
cease to strive for the weal, or feel for the woes of man. 
He emphasised on the importance and worth of prayer, the 
spirit of which was manifest in the Convention, and felt 
assured he who had prayed most, had the most whole-soul- 
ed benevolence, and loved the slave with greater ardor. 

He trusted there would be no leaders in tlie cause, for 
God was their leader — He who went about doing good, 
their pattern : — the Bible, the chart of their principles, the 
ground work of their hopes : Faith and Prayer, the moral 
lever by which the superstructure of despotism will be 
overthrown, and the image of God disenthralled from the 
fetters of physical and mental bondage. The Day Spring 
from on high hath visited the moral world, bespeaking the 
opening dawn ; soon to usher in the brightness of perfect 
day. The light hath touched the mountain tops, the sun 
looks out npon the dispersing gloom ; soon will it have 
reached its meridian radiance, and pour upon the long- 
benighted, — brightening, — transformed world^ the full 
blaze of Millennial glory. 



( 77 ) 



MR. THOMPSON AT ANDOVER. 

On Sunday evening, July 12th, Mr. Thompson address- 
ed a crowded audience, IVom Ezekiel xxviii. 14, 15, 16 — 
' Tliou art the anointed the cherub that covereth ; and I 
have set thee so : thou wast upon the lioly mountain of 
God : thou hast walked up and down in the midst of these 
stones of fire. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the 
day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee. 
By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the 
midst of thee with violence, and tliou hast sinned : there- 
fore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: 
I will destroy thee, O covering cheiub, from the midst of 
the stones of fire.' 

Mr. Thompson remarked that though this was a passage 
of inimitable beauty, it was one of tremendous and awlul 
import. While it drew the picture of the wealth and 
grandeur of ancient Tyre, it contained the prediction of 
its downfall. Mr. Thompson then proceeded to portray in 
matchless colors the prosperity and glory of the renowned 
city, whose ' builders had perfected her beauty, whose 
borders were in the midst of the sea, whose mariners were 
the men of Sidon, and who was a merchant to the people 
of many islands.' Her fir trees were brought from Her- 
mon,her oaks from Bashan, her cedars from Lebanon, her 
blue and purple and fine linen from Egypt, her wheat and 
oil and honey from Judea, her spices and gold and pre- 
cious stones from Arabia, her silver from Tarsus, her em- 
eralds and coral and agate from Syria, her warriors from 
Persia, and her slaves from Greece. Her palaces were 
radiant with jewels, and many kings were filled with the 
multitude of the riches of her merchandise. But miqidiy 
was found in her. Se had kept back the hire of the la- 
borer by fraud. By the multitude of her riches she was 
filled with violence. She made merchandise of the bodies 
7# 



79 MR. THOMPSOP* 

and souls of men, therefore she should be cast down. 
Many nations should come up against her and destroy her 
walls and break dow n her towers. All this had been liter- 
ally fulfilled. 

Mr. Thompson then applied his subject to America. 
Your country, said he, is peculiarly an anointed cherub. 
Heaven smiled upon the self-denying enterprise of your 
praying, pilgrim fathers, and in two centuries a great na- 
tion has risen into being — a nation whose territories 
stretches from the Canadas to the Gulf of Mexico, and 
from the Atlantic to the Rocky Mountains— a nation 
whose prowess by land and by sea is "unsurpassed by any 
people that have a name — a nation v»hose markets are fill- 
ed with the luxuries of every clime, and whose merchan- 
dise is diffused over the world. The keels of your vessels 
cut all waters. Your ships lie along the docks of every 
port of Europe, and are anchored under the walls of Chi- 
na. The deer and the buffalo fall before the aim of }our 
hunters, and the eagle is stricken down from his eyry. 
Your hardy tars visit the ice-bound coasts of the North, 
and transfix the nionsters of the polar seas. Your coasts 
are thronged with populous and extended cities, and in the 
interior may be seen the spires of your churches towering 
above the beautiful villages that surround them. Above 
every other nation under heaven, yours is distinguished 
for its christian enterprise. You can give the Sible to 
every family within the limits of your own territory, and 
pledge it to the world. Your missionaries are in all quar- 
ters of tlie globe, and your seventeen thousand clergy are 
preaching salvation in the midst of your own population. 
Other nations of Christendom behold with complacency 
the good effected by your charitable societies, and would 
be proud to emulate you. No nation has ever been so pe- 
culiarly blessed. You are placed upon the holy mountain 
of God, and walk up and down in the midst of the stones 
of fire, but you liave sinned. Ye make merchandise of 
the bodies and souls of men. Ye have torn the African 
from his quiet home, and subjected him to intermina- 
ble bondage in a land of strangers. Violence is in the 
midst of you, and the oppressor walks abroad unpunished. 
One-sixth part of your whole population are doomed to 
perpetual slavery. The cotton tree blooms, and the cane 



AT ANDOVER. 79 

field wanes, because the black man tills the soil. The 
sails of your vessels whiten the ocean, their holds filled 
with sugar, and their decks burdened with cotton, because 
the black man smarts under the driver's lash, while the 
scorching rays of a tropical sun fall blistering upon his 
skin. He labors and faints, and another riots on the fruits 
of his unrequited toils. He is bought and sold as the brute, 
and has nothing that he can call his own. Is he a hus- 
band ? the next hour may separate him forever from the 
object of his affections. Is he a father? the child of his 
hopes may the next moment be torn from his bleed- 
ing bosom, and carried he knows not whither, but at best, 
to a state of servitude more intolerable than death. He 
looks back upon the past, and remembers liis many stripes 
and tears. He looks forward, and no gleam of hope 
breaks in upon his sorrow-stricken bosom. Despair rank- 
les in his heart and withers all his energies, and he longs 
to find rest in the grave. But his dark mind is uninform- 
ed of his immortal nature, and when he dies he dies with- 
out the consolations of religion, for in christian America 
there is no Bible for the slave. Your country being thus 
guiltv, it behoves every citizen of your republic to con- 
sider lest the fate of Tyre be yours. 

/ Mr. Thompson closed by expressing his determination 
/ to labor in behalf of those in bonds, till the last tear was 
wiped from the eye of the slave, and the last fetter broken 
from his heel ; and then, continued he, then let a western 
breeze bear me back to the land of my birth, or let me 
find a spot to lay my bones in the midst of a grateful peo- 
ple, and a people free indeed. 

Never did the writer of thi^ article listen to such elo- 
quence ; and never before did he witness an audience 
lianrring with such profound attention upon the lips of a 
speaker. But those who take the trouble to read this ar- 
ticle, must not suppose that what I have here stated is 
given in Mr. Thompson's own words. Perhaps I may 
have made use of some of his expressions, but my object 
has been to give a general view of this surpassingly excel- 
lent address of our beloved brother. 

On Monday evening, Mr. Thompson gave a lecture on 
St. Domingo. It being preliminary to subsequent lectures, 
it was mostly statistics from the time of the discovery of 



80 MR. THOMPSON 

the island, down to the year 1789. Mr. Thompson remark- 
ed that he had a two-lold object in view in giving an ac- 
count of St. Domingo. First, to show the capacity of the 
African race for governing themselves; and, second, to 
show that immediate emancipation was safe, as illustrated 
by its effects on that island. St, Domingo, lie said, was 
remarkable for being the place where Columbus was be- 
trayed — for its being the first of the AVest India Islands 
to which negro slaves were carried frcm the coast of Afri- 
ca — for the cruel treatment of the first settlers in the Is- 
land to the aborigines — for the triumph of the liberated 
slaves over the French, and those of the islanders who 
joined them — for being the birth place of the noble mind- 
ed, the gifted, the honoied, but afterwards, betrayed Tous- 
saint L'Ouverture, who was born a slave, and a great part 
of his life labored as a slave, }et as soon as his chains 
were broken off, he rose at once to a man — to a general — 
to a commander-in-chief, and finally to the Governor of a 
prosperous and happy Republic. 

At the close of llie exercises, Mr. Thompson informed 
the audience, that on the next evening they would be ad- 
dressed by Wm. Lloyd Garrison, Editor of the Liberator, 
— the much despised and villified Wm. Lloyd Garrison 
was to address the citizens of Andover on the subject of 
slavery. 

Tuesday evening arrived, and with it arrived Wm. Lloyd 
Garrison, Editor of the Liberator. The house was crowd- 
ed by many, who, we doubt not, came from mere curiosi- 
ty, to see the man who had been held up to the world as 
the * enemy of all righteousness' — the 'disturber of the 
public peace ' — the ' libeller of his country ' — the ' out- 
lawed fanatic' — the reckless incendiary,' who was prop- 
agating his seditious sentim.ents from one end of the 
land to the other, and yet in this free country, suffered to 
live notwithstanding. 

After prayer and singing, brother Garrison arose, and 
said, he stood before them as the one who had been repre- 
sented to the public as the propagator of discord, and the 
enemy of his country — that almost every opprobrious epi- 
thet had been attached to his name ; but since one term of 
reproval had been spared him — since his enemies had 
never called him a slaveholdtr, he would forgive them 



AT ANDOVER. 81 

all the rest, and thank them for their magnanimity. lie 
spoke for some time on the supercilious inquiry so often 
iterated and reiterated by our opponents; Why doji't you 
go to the South? He remarked, that the very individuals 
who made this inquiry, and were denouncing us as fanat- 
ics, well knew that death would be the lot of him who 
should broach such sentiments at the South, and should 
the advocates of abolition throw away their lives by reck- 
lessly throwing themselves into the hands of those who 
were thirsting for their blood, then indeed, might these 
haughty querists smile over their mangled bodies, and 
with justice pronounce them fanatics. He touched upon 
several other important points which I must pass over in 
silence. His manner was mild, his address dignified and 
dispassionate, and many who never saw him before, and 
whose opinions, or rather prejudices were formed from the 
false reports of his enemies, and confirmed by not reading 
his paper, were compelled, in spite of themselves, to form 
an idea entirely the reverse of what they had previously 
entertained of him. His address did much towards re- 
moving the prejudice that many had against him, and prov- 
ed an excellent catholicon to the stomachs of those who 
are much given to squeamishness, whenever they hear the 
name of Garrison mentioned. 

On Wednesday evening, Mr. Thompson was to have 
continued his remarks on St. Domingo, but a heavy rain pre^ 
vented most of the audience from coming together, and by 
the request of those present, the address was deferred un- 
til the next evening, and the time spent in familiar conver- 
sation. An interesting discussion took place, and lasted 
about an hour and a half Many important questions were 
canvassed, to the entire satisfaction, we believe, of all who 
listened to them. 

On Thursday evening, Mr. Thompson resumed his ac- 
count of St. Domingo. Commencing with the year 1790, 
he showed that the beginning of what are termed ' the hor- 
rid scenes of St. Domingo,' was in consequence of a de- 
cree passed by the National Convention, granting to the 
free people of color the enjoyment of the same political 
privileges as the whites, and again in 1791 , another decree 
was passed, couched in still stronger language, declaring 
that all the free people of color in the French islands were 
entitled to all the privileges of citizenship. When this 



83 MR. THOMPSON 

decree reached Cape Francais, it excited the whites to 
great hostility against the free people of color. The par- 
ties were arrayed in arms against each other, and blood 
and conflagration followed. The Convention, in order to 
prevent the threatening evils, immediately rescinded the 
decree. By this act, the free blacks were again deprived 
of their rights, which so enraged them, that they com- 
menced fresh hostilities upon the whites, and the Conven- 
tion was obliged to re-enact the former decree, giving to 
them the same rights as white citizens. A civil war con- 
tinued to rage in the island until 1793, when, in order to 
extinguish it, and at the same time repel the British, who 
were then hovering round the coasts, i^ was suggested that 
the slaves should be armed in defence jf the island. Ac- 
cordingly in 1793, proclamation wis made, promising ' to 
give freedom to all the slaves who would range themselves 
under the banners of the Republic' This scheme pro- 
duced the desired effect. The English were driven from 
the Island, the civil commotions were suppressed, and 
peace and order were restored. After this, the liberated 
slaves were industrious and happy, and continued to work 
on the same plantations as before, and this state of things 
continued until 1S(32, when Buonaparte sent out a military 
force to restore slavery in the Island. Having enjoyed the 
blessings of freedom for nine years, the blacks resolved to 
die rather than again be subjected to bondage. They rose 
in the strength of free men, and with Toussaint L'Ouver- 
ture at their head they encountered their enemies. Many 
of them, however, were taken by the French, and miser- 
ably perished. Some were burnt to death, some were 
nailed to the masts of ships, some were sown up in sacks, 
poignarded, and then thrown into the sea as food for sharks, 
some w^ere confined in the holds of vessels, and suffocated 
with the fumes of brimstone, and many were torn in 
pieces by the blood hounds, which the French employed to 
harass and hunt them in the forests and fastnesses of the 
mountains. At length the scene changed. The putrifying 
carcases of the unburied slain poisoned the atmosphere, 
and produced sickness in the French army. In this state 
of helplessness they were besieged by the black army, 
their provisions were cut off, a famine raged among them 
so that they were compelled at last to subsist upon the 
flesh of the blood hounds, that they had exported from 



AT ANDOVER. 83 

Cuba as auxiliaries in conqaering the islanders. Tiie 
French army being nearly exterminated, a miserable rem- 
nant put to sea, and left the Island to the quiet possession 
of their conquerors. 

Mr. Thompson concluded with the following summary : 
First, the revolution in St. Domingo originated between 
the whites and the free people of color, previous to any 
act of emancipation. Second, the slaves after their eman- 
cipation remained peaceful, contented, industrious, and 
happy, until Buonaparte made the attempt to restore slave- 
ry in the Island. Third, the history of St. Domingo 
proves the capacity of the black man for the enjoyment of 
liberty, his ability of self-government, and improvement, 
and the safety of immediate emancipation. 

Friday evening, Mr. Thompson closed his account of 
St. Domingo, by giving a brief statement of its present con- 
dition. He showed by documents published in the West 
Indies, that its population was rapidly multiplying, its ex- 
ports annually increasing, and the inhabitants of the Island 
improving much faster than could be reasonably expected. 
After the- address, opportunity was given for any indi- 
viduals to propose questions. A gentleman slaveholder 
commenced. He made several unimportant inquiries, and 
along with them, abused Mr. Thompson, by calling him a 
^foreign incendiary.' Mr. Thompson answered in his 
usual christian calmness and dignity, not rendering revil- 
ing for reviling. The discusion continued to a late hour, 
and when it closed the audience gave evidence of being 
well satisfied with the answers given, and some who attend- 
ed that evening for the first time, subscribed their names 
to the Constitution. Thus closed Mr. Thompson's labors 
with us for the present, and he left town on Saturday, July 
18th. Mr. Phelps remained and addressed us on Sab- 
bath evening, but the small space left to me, will not ad- 
mit of my giving any account of it. As to the good ac- 
complished by the labors of Messrs. Thompson and Phelps, 
some further account may be given hereafter. At present, 
I will only say, that upwards of 200 have joined the Anti- 
Slavery Society since they came among us. 

Yours, in behalf of the A. S. Society at Andover, 

R. REED, Cor. Secretary. 



( 84 ) 



MR. THOMPSON'S SPEECH 

In Commemoration of the Abolition of Slavery in the 
British West India Islands, on the First Anniversary 
of that event J hy the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society. 

Mr. Thompson said : I shall not advert prospectively, 
nor retrospectively, to the emancipation of Englishmen. 
We who are engaged in a struggle similar to that of the 
British advocates of outraged humanity, — are to take up 
their example. Spain, Portugal, Denmark, Brazil, and 
the French, will emulate the deed. The day of triumph 
is certain; — there is no human power which can prevent 
it, or prescribe its limits ; no impiety shall say to the 
bounding wave ' Thus far shaltthou come, and no farther.' 
The irresponsible spirit, the sublimity and moral prowess 
of Columbia, are the guarantees of the great achievement. 
We may be misrepresented and vilified; but be not dis- 
turbed at this. The same epithets now bestowed upon us, 
were bestowed upon a Clarkson and a Wilbcrforcc, when 
one in Parliament, and the other out of it, devoted time, 
and talents, comfort, and reputation, to the noble work. 
All the filthy channels of the dictionary were turned upon 
a Wilberforce, and they fell like water upon the back of 
the swan, leaving its purity and loveliness unspotted and 
unruffled. 

We learn by the event, which we commemorate, the 
folly of striving for less than the whole : we must struggle 
for complete justice ; we must ask nothing, and acquiesce 
in nothing short of that. The planters from the West In- 
dies, and from the Cape of Good Hope, all respectable 
men, besought the British nation to be moderate in doing 
right. O, we must cut off only the claws of the monster, 
leaving his jaws to crush the bodies and bones of our 
brethren. They said we must mitigate, mitigate, mitigate; 
we beseech you, be not rash, but mitigate ; and in 1822, 
-Mr. Canning, the Lords and Commons, the King and the 



MR. THOMPSON AT BOSTON. 85 

Church, men and women, combined to mitigate. What 
was the result? The planters of Jamaica burned, in the 
public square, the mitigating act, at 12 o'clock at night. 
And hoelve o'clock it was with the hopes of the abolition- 
ists ; for the hour approached when the dawn streaked the 
dark horizon, and grew brighter and brighter unto the 
perfect day. No matter how much we mitigate and soft- 
en ; no matter whether trufh come as a tomahawk, or in 
the form of an instrument of cupping, to a delicate lady, if 
the truth come at all, we are still fanatics. Wilberforce 
was called, to the day of his death, a hoar y-headcd fanatic 
by the whole pro-slavery phalanx, but when he died, 
the illustrious and the lowly, thronged around his bier. 
I saw with these eyes, the deep religious reverence which 
his memory inspired, and the heartfelt homage which his 
virtues drew from a vast and splendid train. Royalty, no- 
bility, bishops. Parliament and people, pressed to pay the 
great tribute of tears to the pure and exalted of the earth, 
whose spirit had returned to its Father in heaven. 

How sleep the good wlio sink to rest, 
V/itli all their country's wishes Llest ! 
The spring, with dewy fingers cold. 
Returns to deck their hallowed mould. 
She there shall dress a sweeter sod. 
Than Fancy's feet have ever trod. 
By fairy hands their knell is rung. 
By forms unseen their dirge is sung. 
There Honor comes, a pilgrim gray, 
To bless the turf that wraps their clay; 
And Freedom shall awhile repair, 
To dwell a weeping hermit there- 

Who does not now wish to struggle for the mantle of 
W^ilberforce ? Who is not ambitious to be folded in its 
bright amplitude ? 

l\\ this cause, you cannot escape calumny. Here is our 
brother, who has addressed us to day, (referring to Mr. 
May.) Do his mild and persuasive words, which one 
would think might soften the hardest heart, save him from 
the tongue of slander ] Is not he a mark as well as I, who 
am rough and unspun, and not afraid to stir up the bile, so 
that men may see it, and detest it. 
8 



MR. THOMPSON 



/ accuse the press of the United States of dishoncstif. 
There is Antigua, and there are the Bermudas, free as the 
air above, and the waters around them, and serene and 
peaceful, and prosperous as free ; and vvliat press has 
spoken — what daily or weekly vehicle of intelligence, has 
presented this prominent fact, by which the age itself will 
be quoted in times to come ? Is it told in Charleston ? 
No. Is it told in Richmond ? Is it told in New York or 
New Haven ? No. In Boston ? No. A tempest in a 
slop basin has been got up in Jamaica ; and a scene of 
dcbolation, and hanging slaves, has been painted for the 
gaze of the good people throughout the length of the land. 

My friend did not mention the Cape of Good Hope and 
the Mauritius. More than twenty British colonies, sub- 
sisting in peace, and maintaining order in the transit of an 
unparalleled revolution, without crime, without violence, 
without turbulence or tumult ! 'T is the death knell of 
American slavery. American slavery cannot last ten years 
longer. Let who will sink or swim, American slavery 
perishes. The monster reels and will down, and we shall 
tread upon his neck. 

But it is said to i)C presumptuous and wrong in me to 
meddle with this question in the United States, because I 
am ignorant of it ; and yet those who say this have never 
thought proper to show any of my errors ! 

It is, they say, an unconstitutional question. Ay, it is 
unconstitutional to feel for human suffering ; it is uncon- 
stitutional to be generous to the abject, or indignant at 
crime; it is unconstitutional to preach, to pray, to weep. 
Hold, weeping mother there ; your tears are unconstitutional. 
It is unconstitutional to print, to speak, to say that tuo and 
two make four, in the country where the ashes of George 
Washington lie ! They say we shall not prove that two 
and two are four. 

Are the friends of abolition enemies of the Union ? The 
fastest, firmest, fondest friends of the Union, are abolition- 
ists. I have thought that the constitution might stand, and 
slavery fall ; that slavery might die, and the constitution 
live — live healthy and perennial, I have thought it might 
live, and the black man and the white man rejoice under 
its broad and protecting banner. 

But I will not dwell upon this, as our friends have gone, 
for whose special benefit it was intended. [The speaker 



AT BOSTON. 87 

was supposed to allude to a f^ow persons, who had appeared 
rather restless, for some time, and had at this stage simul- 
taneously retreated below the stairs.] 

Abolition was unconstitutional in the West Indies. It 
was an infringement of their charter, as my friend, Mr. 
Child, who has shown such an intimate acquaintance with 
the West India colonies, knows. 

But go to the hut of a free Antigonian, live with him, 
see a Bermudian toss up a free child, and say if there be 
aught unconstitutional in these. Look to them of Jamai- 
ca, when the three and five years, (a paltry chandler shop 
business,) have expired ; and declare of those regenerated 
men, if the genius of emancipation have committed any- 
thing unconstitutional there. 

For the present, you must be prepared to be libelled. 
When slavery shall have fallen, out of the ruins you may 
dig a pretty fair reputation. You must not expect your 
portraits to be excellently drawn, especially by southern 
limners. You may be represented with hoofs, and horns, 
and other appendages of a certain distinguished person- 
age, who shall be nameless. It is in vain to regret, or 
strive to eschew this. Your reputation is already gone. 
You are in the case of poor Michael Cassio. * O reputa- 
tion, reputation, reputation, I 've lost my reputation.' But 
yesterday, rich men bowed, and bade me good morning in 
State street. The periodicals were delighted with my ar- 
ticles, and returned substantial proofs of approbation. 
Now my paragraphs of an inch long are suspected; and 
I seldom see the sunshine of a smile. 

But never mind, reputation will come by and by. We 
have as good a reputation as the Gallileans had, or as their 
Master had, and who could have a better? Take it in- 
versely, and you will hit it about right (at least if you have 
all given as little cause as I have.) We have the testi- 
mony of the Most High for our principles. In the lan- 
guage of the Declaration of sentiment, ' man may fail, but 
principles never.' The mustard seed is sown, or to change 
the fiorure, tlie acorn is planted ; nay it is not an acorn — 
the oak is set and shall grow, and spread over the black 
and the white its strong and ample boughs, and when cut 
down it shall be the bulwark of your glory, and the guar- 
antee of your safety. (Mr. Thompson sat down amidst 
great applause.) 



( 88) 



MR. THOMPSON AT LYNN. 

FROM THE LYNN REeORD. 

This distinguished young friend and disciple of Wilber- 
force, and justly celebrated orator, who has been repeated- 
ly invited by the Anti-Slavery Society of this town, arriv- 
ed on Saturday afternoon last, and was received with great 
satisfaction and delight. The society had a meeting on 
business, at the Town Hall, at the close of which, Mr. 
Thompson addressed a large crowded assembly of people, 
ladies and gentlemen, nearly two hours, in a strain of elo- 
quence and power, quite beyond any thing we ever heard, 
and equally beyond our power to describe. All were held, 
as if by enchantment, to the close. It would be difiicuU to 
decide in which he most excelled, matter or manner. lie 
took a comprehensive and varied view of the enormous in- 
justice and evil of slavery, and brought up and considered 
the most prominent and popular objections to the plan of 
immediate abolition, and exposed their hypocrisy and ab- 
surdity in his own peculiar and effectual manner of cut- 
ting sarcasm. The effect was evidently great. 

After Mr. Thompson had closed, a stern Pharisaical 
looking man, who had been sitting near the speaker, an- 
nouncing himself as a preacher of the Gospel, from the 
South, desired the privilege of putting a few questions to 
Mr. Thompson, which was readily granted, and the ques- 
tions as readily answered, to the satisfaction of the audi- 
ence generally. The object of the stranger was to cavil 
and carp at what had been said. But the tables were 
adroitly turned upon the poor nian, in a manner least ex- 
pected, and most mortifying to him. One of the ques- 
tions, in substance at least, was — ' Do you consider every 
slaveholder a thief? ' * I consider every person who holds 
and claims the right of holding his fellow being, as joro^- 
erty, a man stealer.' 



MR. THOMPSON AT LYNN. 89 

After several questions, captious in their nature, had 
been asked and answered, Mr. Tliompson turned upon his 
assailant, 'If you have now done, sir, I, in turn, should 
like to ask you a {e\v questions.' 

' Do you consider slavery a sin ? ' 

' I consider slavery a moral evil.' 

' Do you consider slavery a sin ? ' 

* I do consider slavery a sin.' 

^ Is the marriage of slaves legal in the Southern States? ' 

* It is legalized in Maryland.' 

' Can the Slaveholder, by the laws of Maryland, separ- 
ate husband and wife?' 

' He can,' &.c. &c. 

The gentleman stranger, (who is said to belong to 
Springfield in this &i?iie , formerly from the South) appeal- 
ed to the people, but finally withdrew his appeal, and de- 
clared himself ' satisfied.' Whether satisfied or not, we 
believe he had as much as he could digest, and as much 
as he could stvallow, including the question and answer 
system. 

On Sunday evening, Mr. Thompson delivered a lecture 
on Slavery, in a religious view, as opposed to the doctrines 
of the Bible. The meeting-house (Rev. Mr. Peabody's) 
was much crowded, and many went away unable to gain 
admittance. 

On Monday evening, Mr. Thompson lectured on the sin 
of slavery, before a newly formed * Anti-Slavery Society, 
of the New England Conference of Methodist Episcopal 
Ministers,' consisting of about 60 or 70 Ministers — (a 
glorious phalanx!) at the South street Methodist meeting- 
house. The house was well filled ; but owing to a mis- 
understanding by many, that the lecture was to be deliver- 
ed at the Woodend meeting-house, (which was otherwise 
engaged) all who went were enabled to get in. The lec- 
ture was a powerful and splendid production both in argu- 
ment and in manner of delivery. 

On Tuesday evening, Mr. Thompson lectured at the 
Friend's meeting-house, which is very large, and was thor- 
oughly filled. He was assisted by Rev. A. A. Phelps, one 
of the public Agents of the Society, whose address was 
able, and well received. Mr. Garrison and several other 
friends of the cause, from Boston and Salem, were pres- 
8* 



90 ^II"^- THOMPSON 

ent. Mr. T. took occasion to glance at the past history 
and conductor the Friends in regard to slavery, the lively 
interest they had taken in the cause of the oppressed, and 
the liberal contributions they had made; and exhorted to 
a continuance in the ways of well doing. 

There may be men in our own countiy of more learning 
and more depthof mind, and strengthof reasoning, than Mr. 
Thompson, though, we think, rarely to be found ; but for 
readiness and skill in debate, and splendor af eloquence^ 
as an orator, we believe he stands unrivalled. His amia- 
bleness, mildness of temper, urbanity, and blandness of man- 
ners and deportment, are adapted to win the love and affection 
of all, who are honored with his acquaintance. Thrt the 
haughty, and the envious, should whisper their malignant 
hints that something evil is lurking about his character, is 
no more than may be naturally expected ; though they are 
most fully and satisfactorily refuted by his numerous and 
honorable testimonials of respect which we have seen, 
from benevolent st>cieties aiid individuals in England, 
wdiere he is well known. These all breathe the warm 
friendship and esteem which goodness and greatness of 
soul alone can inspire. 

The independence of mind which BIr. Thompson pos- 
sesses, is one of the most striking and important traits in 
his excellent character. lie slirinks from nothing. lie 
is ready to attack sin and wickedness in every shape — in 
high or low places : and his thrusts never miss — never fail 
of effect. 

The name of ' Mr. George Thompson ' was often asso- 
ciated in the public journals, with distinguished orators 
and philanthropists, at the various public meetings of be- 
nevolent societies in England, long before he embarked 
for this country. lie was there ranked among the most 
able and popular orators. But here, in this country, there 
are certain icould-bc i^rcnt men, who dare not meet Mr. 
Thompson in the open field, who vent their pitiful malice, 
and strive to induce others to treat him w ith that neglect,, 
to which themselves are so well entitled ; because he brings 
out and exposes to the light of day their works of dark- 
ness. 

' He is [{ foreigner — he has no riuht to come here inter- 



AT LYNIV, 91 

fering with our laws, our customs, and our private riglits/ 

Very fine, iudeed ! Capital! Who has a right to in- 
terfere, or say a word, if a man murders his wife and 
children, or sells them into bondage? It was all liis own 
family concern. Who has a right to e:xpress an opinion of 
the Turks, when oppressing, starving, and murdering the 
Greeks, not only men, but helpless women and children ? 
Who has a right to express an opinion against the Russians 
for similar conduct toward the Poles, under similar cir- 
cumstances, as the latter were the vassals of the former, 
in both cases ? W' ho has a right to send Gospel mission- 
aries abroad among the benighted heathen, groping in 
darkness, in order to instruct and enlighten them in the 
way of truth? WE — wc, the American people, the 'sons 
of liberty,' claim the right, and exercise it too; without 
once being asked, why do ye so ? We, the American peo- 
ple, claim and exercise the right, when the laws of God — 
the eternal laws of truth and justice, and humanity, are 
broken, to expose the sin, and to ' reprove, rebuke and ex- 
hort ' the transgressor. 

'But slavery was brought to our shores and entailed 
on us by England, against our consent, when we were 
under her government; and now shall England send men 
here to complain of the injustice and cruelty of the act, 
when we should be glad to get rid of the evil, but cannot?' 

Reason answers, Yes. If England did wrong, and af- 
terward saw the evil, repented, and brought forth fruits 
meet for repentance, by liberating all their own slaves, was 
it not right — was it not a christian duty, to extend their 
acts of kindness to us also, whom they had led into error ; 
to tell us what theij had done, and how they did it ; and 
to aid and assist us to get out of the difficulty? The law 
of God is universal. The law of Christians — the law of 
love, is universal ; and requires the subjects of that law 
to oppose and expose sin and oppression wherever they are 
found. Me send Ministers, political, religious, and ma- 
.sonic, to England and other places — to co-operate — to ask 
and give assistance, and mutually to benefit each other. 

But what can we, in the Northern States do? W'^e can 
say, slavery is ' a sin.' We can enlighten public sentiment 
on the subject, and cause the sin of slavery — the greatest 



92 MR. THOMPSON AT LYNN. 

sin in tlie world, to become odious : and public sentiment 
in this country has the force of law, to correct any evil. 

To assist us in these labors of love, Mr. Thompson has 
been sent among us, by the friends of humanity in Eng- 
land ; and a most efiicient and powerful co-worker he is, 
sweeping away the refuges of lies, and carrying his prin- 
ciples as a mighty sweeping torrent, wherever he goes. 
The advocates of slavery fear and hate him, the humane 
and philanthropic love him, and all respect and admire his 
talents, whatever they may pretend. 

Mr. Thompson possesses all the requisites of an im- 
pressive and powerful orator — a fund of acquired knowl- 
edge, a brilliant imagination, natural pathos, a powerful 
voice, an elegant form, graceful gesticulation, a counte- 
nance capable of expressing any passion or emotion, and 
lastly, the most important of all, a benevolent heart — an 
expansive soul. 



(93 ) 



DENIAL OF KAUFMAN'S CHARGE. 

Boston, September 80, 1S35. 
To the Editor of the Daili; Atlas : — 

Sir, — Through the kindness of a friend, I have just re- 
ceived a copy of your paper of this day, in whicli tlie follow- 
ing paragraph appears, extracted from the New York Com- 
mercial Advertiser. 

'Mr. Thompson, in conversation witli some of the stu- 
dents, repeatedly averred that every slaveholder in the 
United Slates, ought to have his throat cut, o?^ de- 
served to have his throat cut ; although he afterward pub- 
licly denied that he had said so. But the proof is direct 
and positive. In conversation with some of the theologi- 
cal students, in regard to the moral instruction which 
ought to be enjoyed by the slaves, he distinctly declared, 
that every slave should be taught to cut his mas- 
ter's throat. I state the fact — knowing the responsi- 
bility I am assuming, and challenge a legal investigation.' 

Injustice to myself, and the cause in which I am engag- 
ed, I feel it my duty, in the most solemn and emphatic man- 
ner, to deny the above allegations. They are at total va- 
riance with all the sentiments I have ever either. publicly 
or privately expressed. I refer with the utmost confidence, 
to all who know me, and to the many thousands who have 
listened to my public addresses, as witnesses to the per- 
fectly pacijic character of my views and principles, on the 
subject of slavery. I hold in utter abhorrence the shed- 
ding of blood, and would, if I had the power, inculcate 
upon, the mind of every slave in the world, the apostolical 
precept, ' Resist not evil,' These doctrines I hold in com- 
mon with the advocates of immediate emancipation uni- 
versally. Their views, on the subject under discussion,, 
are, I believe, in strict coincidence with the views of the 
Society of Friends. 



Q4 BiR. Thompson's letter, etc. 

I shall endure, without wrath, the epithets, censures, and 
accusations heaped upon me ; nor can I wonder at the treat- 
ment I am daily receiving, when I remember that it was 
said of Him, whose benevolent doctrines I am humbly 
endeavoring to set forth, ' Behold he hath a devil.' 

Jt mav be as well to add, that I heard a rumor of the 
first charge, when some time ago in Andover, and there 
most publicly repelled it. The latter charge is entire new. 

Yours, respectfully, 

GEORGE THOMPSON. 



MR. SUNDERLAND'S STATEMENT. 

Boston, Oct. 24, 1835. 

Tu the Editor of the Liberator: — 

Sir, — I have just now seen a communication taken from 
the New York Commercial Advertiser, and signed by 
A. Kaufman, Jr., in which the writer refers to a conver- 
sation which took place between himself and Mr. George 
Thompson, during the visit of the latter gentleman to An- 
dover, in July last, and in which Mr. Kaufman says, that 
Mr. Thompson used the following language, 'If we j)r cach- 
ed what we ought, or if ice taught the slaves to do ivhat 
they ovght, we would tell every one of them to 
CUT their masters' throats.' 

I cannot express the astonishment I felt upon reading 
this statement, as I was present during the interview, when 
the above language is said to have been used, and I am 
sure that no such language was used by Mr. Thompson. 
I am confident that I heard every word which passed be- 
tween Mr. Thompson and Mr. Kaufman, on that occasion, 
as I felt considerable solicitude in it, from a little knowl- 
edge which 1 had previously had of Mr. Kaufman, occa- 
sioned by some statements, which I had heard him make, 
concerning the church of which I am a member, in the 
chapel of the Theological Seminary at Andover. 

I can easily account for the mistake into which Mr. 



DENYING Kaufman's charge. 95 

Kaufman has fallen, in relation to what Mr. Thompson did 
say at that time, as he appeared to be somewhat embarrass- 
ed, especially when he was requested to mention one place 
in the Bible, which gave one human being the right to hold 
another as property. He apologized for not being then 
prepared to quote a passage from the Bible to this point, 
and added, that ' he could do it at another time.' 

Something was then said which led Mr. Thompson to 
quote Exodus xxi. 16, * He that stealeth a man and selleth 
him, or if he be found in his hand, he shall surely be put 
to death;' upon which, Mr. Kaufman immediately asked, 
— ' And would you have the slaves rise and cut their mas- 
ters' throats?' or words to that effect. Mr. Thompson 
answered, ' NO ! But if one could have a right to cut an- 
other's throat the slave has a right to cut his master's throat, 
who holds him in bondage ; ' and then added, that no one 
could have such a right, and that he would not have a 
drop of the slaveholder's blood spilt, if by this means all 
the slaves could be set free throughout the vv'orld ; ' and lan- 
guage to this effect he repeated to Mr. K. frequently. 

It was repeated, because Mr. K. said to Mr. T. a num- 
ber of times ' You would have the slaves cut their masters' 
throats, would you?' and once Mr. Thompson answered 
in reply, * that the slaves had as much right and as much 
provocation to do this, as some of our fathers had to put 
the British to death, when they felt that they were oppress- 
ed by them ; but he did not believe it right to shed blood 
in any case.' 

During the conversation, Mr. Kaufman appeared excit- 
ed, and manifested, as I thought at the time, rather an un- 
pleasant, if not a captious spirit. Mr. Thompson mani- 
fested nothing that had the least appearance of anger; his 
manners were agreeable and christian-like, as usual. 

The conversation took place at the house of the Rev. 
S. W. Wilson, who himself was present, together with the 
Rev. Mr. Downing, Prof Gregg, and some others, who will, 
I doubt not, confirm the statement I have made above. In 
the mean time, the public may rest assured, that the writer 
above named, labors under a misapprehension, and that 
George Thompson did not, at the time referred to, use the 
offensive language which has been attributed to him. 

LA ROY SUNDERLAND. 



96 MR. Thompson's letter, etc. 

MR. GREGG'S STATEMENT. 

Hudson, (Ohio,) Oct. 27, 1835. 
Mr. Thompson : — 

Dear Sir, — I have not seen the statement of Mr. Kauf- 
man to which you allude, and am not, therefore, able to 
say whether it corresponds in matter and form, with my own 
impressions of the conversation to which it refers. 

At your request, however, I am ready to state what were 
my own impressions at the time, as I expressed them to 
Mr. Kaufman, both orally and in writing, on the day subse- 
quent to the conversation. 

I understood you to make use of the expression, 
' Slaveholders deserve to have their throats cut,' in refer- 
ence to what you supposed to be their desert, and not the 
duty of their slaves. When Mr. K. repeated the phrase, 
and asked whether you meant to say so, you replied, ' Yes,' 
and reiterated the remark, quoting, in confirmation of it, 
the text, * Whosoever stealeth a man and selleth him, or 
if he be found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death.' 
I also understood you to say, in the same connection, * I 
would teach slaves the doctrine of Paul — " Servants be 
obedient to your masters," ' &c., the duty of passive sub- 
misson to wioncr, or words to the same purport. 

You are at liberty to make any use of this communica- 
tion which the interest of truth may require. As Mr. 
Kaufman has stated to the public his impressions of the 
conversation, I deem it but an act of simple justice to 
yourself to state mine. 

Yours, &LC. 

JARVIS GREGG. 

Mr. T. — Dear Sir, — I have given you what I believe 
to be a true version of the said conversation, and thrown 
it into the form of a letter to yourself, as the most conve- 
nient. Mr. Kaufman has now in his possession my state- 
ment in relation to it, given to him on the day subsequent 
to the conversation, wliich is in substance the same as I 
have communicated to you ; and I think it a little strange 



nr.XYiNG Kaufman's ciiAurE. 97 

that he should not have given that to tlie public, by the 
side of his own. I trust you will be preserved from usino- 
expressions, which may be wrested to your own injury, 
and the prejudice of the cause of truth and humanity. 
May God bless you, and keep you, and ' defend the ritj-jit.' 



Yours trulv 



J. GREGG. 



x^IR. PHELPS' STATE.AIENT. 



Farmington, Nov. 2, 1835. 

Dear Brother Thompson : — 

Yours of the 17th ult., directed to me at Utica, is now 
before me. Did I deem it necessary, I would state in de- 
tail, so far as I can recollect it, the conversation between 
yourself and Mr. Kaufman, at Andover. It took place 
while we were lecturing there, and in the house of Rev. 
S. W. Willson. Mr. Kaufman was brought to the house 
and introduced to our acquaintance by Mr. Gregg, form- 
erly a tutor at Dartraoutli college, and then a student at 
Andover, who was also present at the conversation. 

Mr. Kaufman declares that you said, ' If loe preached 
what me ought, or if we taught the slaves to do lohat they 

ought, WE WOULD TELL EVERY ONE OF THEM TO CUT 
THEIR master's THROAT.' 

I say unhesitatingly, that you did not utter any such 
words, or any such sentiment on that occasion ; and that 
I never heard you do so on any other occasion, public or 
private, though I have labored with you weeks together in 
the cause of emancipation. 

As to the other form of phraseology, that ' every slave- 
holder ought (or deserves) to have his throat cut,' Mr. 
Kaufman "affirms you employed these rrrj/ words ;--that 
you ' made use of this naked, iinqualijicd, unconditional 
declaration,' and moreover, that he 'repeated the question 
three or four times, and you uniformly answered in the 
9 



98 MR. Thompson's letter, etc. 

same maimer ; ' and still further, that the passage, ' Who- 
so stealeth a man and selleth him, or if he be found in his 
hand, he shall surely be put to death' — was not quoted by 
you in * this connection.' 

I affirm, that this passage icas quoted in this connec- 
tion, and in rei)ly to a demand for a single passage 
which declared slaveholding to be a sin — that the repeti- 
tion of the question in the case, was the repetition of an 
opponent, endeavoring to push you on to a literal applica-. 
tion of the passage, and thus make you say something, of 
which he could take advantage against you — and finally, 
that in your answers, you did not employ those ' verif 
words ' nor * make use of the naked, unqualified, uncondi- 
tional declaration, that every slaveholder ought (or deserv- 
ed) to have his throat cut.' So far from it, your answer 
was qualified by its connection, and was entirely destitute 
of the throat-cutting part of the phraseology. 

That 1 am correct in tlie above statement, I am quite 
sure from the fact, that Mr, Kaufman reported the same 
story at the time, and in substantially the same words, and 
that then, when the whole conversation was fresh in mi/ mind, 
I declared it to be false. 

You are at. liberty to make what use you please of this 
statement. 

Yours truly, 

AMOS A. PHELPS. 



(99 ) 



MR. THOMPSON AT EAST ABINGTON. 

Agreeably to previous notice, an Anti-Slavery lecture 
was delivered by Mr. George Thompson, in the congrega- 
tional meeting-houee in East Abington, on Thursday, the 
15th inst., to a crowded and respectable audience, com- 
posed of the inhabitants of the place, and persons from 
the adjacent towns, from eight to ten miles distant ; among 
whom we were happy to see most of the clergy of the dif- 
ferent denominations in the vicinity. 

The prevaling excitement in the community on the sub- 
ject of slavery — the various conflicting representations of 
the character and designs of the lecturer — and the re- 
cent disturbances in a neighboring village had aroused 
the attention of the people to the subject, and cre- 
ated a strong desire to hear what this ' incendiary,' this 
' disorganizer,' and above all this 'foreigner ' would say. 
Mr. Thompson stated in a concise manner, what were 
the principles of the abolitionists, whom he represented, 
as he understood them ; but was more full and particular 
on the measures, as they are more generally opposed. No- 
thing could be more foreign from these measures, as ex- 
plained by him, than a disorganizing spirit, or a tendency 
to produce a spirit of insurrection among slaves. He 
would say to the slave, * injure not a hair of the head of 
your master ; but wait patiently, wait even cheerfully, God's 
time for your emancipation.' He discarded, in the strong- 
est terms, any wish to interfere with the rights of the 
slaveholding states, guaranteed them by the Constitu- 
tion : he would not recommend even petitioning Con- 
gress on the subject. He believed slavery to be a heinous 
sin, and that it might be abolished, if those concerned in 
it were willing; and all he wished was to persuade them 
to abandon it. He had drawn all his principles from that 
fountain of truth and righteousness, the Bible — he wanted 
no other text book — he wanted to establish no other prin- 



100 MR. THOMPSON AT EAST ABINGTON. 

ciples, than were contained in this unerring standard of 
truth. He believed the cause of the abolitionists was 
founded on these principles — that it was the cause of God, 
and would therefore prevail, whatever might become of 
those now engaged in it. 

The audience were held in breathless silence for nearly 
two hours, listening to the loftiest strains of eloquence, 
replete with sentiments of the most elevated piety, and 
most expansive philanthropy. 

From remarks since made by those present, it is evident 
that a favorable impression was left on the minds of nearly 
all the hearers, wiih regard to the cause. Such remarks 
as these were heard : ' If these are the principles and mea- 
sures of the abolitionists, I am an abolitionist.' * If any 
man, acknowledging slavery to be an evil, will propose a 
more mild, pacific, and rational plan to remove it, than 
has been proposed to day, I should like to hear it.' * If a 
lecturer like Mr. T. were stationed in every village at the 
south, inculcating the principles expressed in this place, I 
believe it would do more to prevent insurrection than all 
the coercive measures of legislators, and threats, and lash- 
es of master and driver.' 

The services were performed, throughout, with the great- 
est decency and order. Not a dog moved his tongue, nor 
an adder hissed to disturb the peace of the meeting. 
Some apprehensions of disturbance were entertained by 
the more timid ; but the result has shown that there is at 
present, one place, at least, in Abington, where the ' supre- 
macy of the laws' is acknowledged, and 'free discussion * 
maintained. 

Mr. Thompson left the house, not in a shower of brick- 
bats, but, as we trust, under a cloud of pure incense, as- 
cending from devout hearts, in fervent aspirations to Him 
who holds the hearts of all men in his hand, for a blessing 
on the person and labors of his reviled and persecuted 
servants. 



( 101 ) 



LETTER FROM EAST ABINGTON. 

East Abington, Oct. 15, 1835. 

Mr. Garrison : 

Dear Sir, — I am happy to inform you that we have had 
the pleasure of listening, this afternoon, to a long and 
most eloquent address from Mr. Thompson, in peace and 
quietness, notwithstanding the base attempt of some of 
your Boston Editors to incite the disorderly to come here 
and make a disturbance. The meeting-house was filled 
above and below. I saw not an empty seat on the floor or in 
the galleries. People came from all the adjoining towns 
— many of them our most intelligent and influential inhab- 
itants. Although it may be too true, that the merchants of 
Boston and New York will consent to have their liberty of 
speech abridcred, for the sake of the southern trade; — and 
the politicians of our cities will compromise the freedom 
of the press to the accomplishment of their party purposes 
— yet will not the yankee farmers consent 

-to be told, beside the plough. 



What they must speak, and token, and ftoiv. 

It seems to me, the question now before our country, is 
not so much whether slavery shall be abolished, as wheth- 
er the pailadiuni of our oicn liberties shall be preserved 
inviolate ? The opposers of the Abolitionists are tramp- 
ling upon the Constitution. We have the same right to 
invite Mr. Thompson to address us on the subject of slave- 
ry, as to invite any other man — and to be unmolested in 
our right. Those who do not wish to hear him may stay 
away from our meetings. But we will not consent that the 
pro-slavery party shall come or send into our country towns 
to break up or disturb meetings, which we see fit to hold, 
9* 



102 LETTER FROM EAST ABINGTO^To 

under the sanction of the Constitution, in order that we 
may be enlightened as to our duly to our enslaved coun- 
trymen. If we, or the abolitionists, or Mr. Thompson, vio- 
late the laws of the land, let us, or them, be dealt with ac- 
cordingly — but if the laws protect us, let not our fellow- 
citizens countenance the outrages of mobocrats, however 
* rich and respectable ' they may be. 

I rejoice that we have had a large meeting of the yeo- 
manry of Massachusetts assembled in this town, to hear 
Mr. Thompson just at this time ; because the opposers of 
freedom and the rights of man, and the liberty of speech, 
seem to have singled him out as the especial object of at- 
tack, thus identifying him with the cause which every fj-ve 
New Englander loves. I have no time to give you a de- 
tailed account of Mr. Thompson's address. It was listen- 
ed to with deep — often breathless attention — and not a sen- 
timent escaped his lips, although he spoke with matchless 
rapidity, to which any friend of man or of America could 
object. 

Yours, R. 



( 103) 



MR. THOMPSON AT CONCORD, N. H. 

FROM THE CONCORD (n. H.) HERALD OF FREEDOM. 

To reply to all the slanders and falsehoods showered up- 
on the noble stranger, George Thonnpson, from our most 
unscrupulous press, with a frequency, multiplicity, and 
malice aforethovght^ that beat the' infernal machine' fired 
off at Louis Phillippe, would worry down Briareus him- 
self with a whole quiver of goose quills in each of his 
hundred hands — and an attempt to be heard before a 
community resolved into one great variegated mobocracy, 
were as idle and bootless as ' the whistle of the stout mar- 
iner amid the roar of the tempest.' But there is now and 
then a perpetration that transcends abolition patience 
itself. 

Professing Christians, most of us, we did not dream that 
associations of the friends o{ viissions would disregard the 
appeal of Mr. Thompson, or refuse to hear him because 
he was* a foreigner,' or that an enlightened ministry would 
join in with the wicked partizan deprecation, ' Foreign 
emissary, supported by foreign funds, sent here to overturn 
our peculiar institutions.' \Vhat is the missionary to India 
but an ' emissary? ' what is New England to the Hindoo 
but ' foreign ' land ? and what the gifts of the monthly 
concert, and the treasures of the contribution box, but 
* foreign funds' to the banks of the Ganges? and what — 
I was about to say — are the infernal rights of Heathenism 
but their * peculiar institutions? ' But here the parallel fails, 
for there is nothing in all the grim and foul incidents of 
ages of Pagan darkness and depravity, to be named by the 
side of that unutterable, diabolical * peculiarity,' American 



104 MR. THOMPSON 

Slavery ! Slavery, pure, absolute, unalloyed — extinguish- 
ing the soul, rendering needless all fetters of the body, re- 
ducing man to the implicit subserviency of the dog — 
No! there is no * peculiar institution' under heaven, com- 
parable with this, and has not been since the fall. 

Mr. Thonipson witnessed this associate procedure; and 
on his return to his lodgings, took up the question with 
professional composure, — ' What has the Church to do with 
slavery? ' He made it the theme of his evening lecture. 
The chapel was full. Many clergymen of the association, 
and gentlemen of high ecclesiastical and literary rank at- 
tended. I wish they had all attended. I wish the entire 
ministry of New England could have heard that lecture. 
' What has the Church to do with Slavery ? ' was the tre- 
mendous interrogatory, and would to Heaven the Amer- 
ican church could have listened to the mighty reasonings 
in reply. Could they have been within the reach of that 
argument, and heard it in the spirit of Christians in sea- 
sons of revivals, — the 'incendiary' appeal of George 
Thompson, that night, would have proved, by the blessing 
of God, the overthrow, forever, of American Slavery. 

At the animated and urgent request of many who were 
desirous to hear him again, he remained and lectured on 
Wednesday evening. The chapel was thronged. Very 
many clergymen attended — more than on the preceding 
evening. It was as reverend and respectable an au- 
ditory as the land could afford. The theme of the lecture 

. was the crime of the abolitionists and the sin of their cause. 

J^It was that they pleaded for the hlach man. It was be- 
""^ cause he was black. The orator seemed to give full play 
to his feelings and his genius. His illustration of the two 
philanthropists in the captive's dungeon at midnight, one 
demanding of the other, as they came nigh and heard his 
moan, and the clank of his chain, as he tossed in his rest- 
less sleep — that they should rescue him and give him his 
liberty, and the other, in the true spirit of prudential ex- 
pediency, questioning of the captive's form, his country, 
his features, his co?nplexion, and to all these, the reply Me 
is a man, in thundering succession, was overpowering — 
terrible. I do not remember any thing like its effect upon 
the auditory. The whole lecture was of grand and lofty 



AT CONCORD. 105 

eloquence, realizing to me what I had imagined of the pow- 
ers of Sheridan or Patrick Henry. 

At the close of the lecture, a resolution drawn by Mr. 
Whittier, and vindicating the claims of Anti-Slavery upon 
the church, and upon all patriots and Christians, was 
offered by Rev. Mr. Curtis of Pittsfield. Rev. Mr. Root 
of Dover, in the chair. It was seconded— twice read, that 
it might be distinctly heard, and carried by an almost uni- 
versal vote — not a hand rising to the contrary call. After 
this, under impressions that I could not resist, in such 
terms as I could command, I moved the reverend and 
learned assembly, that thanks be proffered to our beloved 
brother Thompson, for his affectionate labors among us, 
and that the vote be expressed by rising. The motion was 
answered by a spontaneous, simultaneous, and enthusiastic 
rising, that seemed to leave no unthanking or unthankful 
individual in town. 



( 106) 



LETTER FROM MARBLEIIEAD. 

Thursday Evening, Oct. 22, 1S35. 

My Dear Friend — 

And fclloiC'lahorcr in the cause of freedom, for tico mil- 
lions two hundred and fifty thousand American slaves : 

Since (Jespatcliiiig the few liasty lines which I wrote you 
on receipt of the news of yes-terday's proceedings in Bos- 
ton, I have yielded to a strong impulse to address you a 
Ion orercon)munication, more fully expressive of the views and 
feelings with which the signs of the times have inspired me. 
I despair, however, of finding words to express adequately 
the deep sympathy 1 cherish with you in the midst of your 
trials and persecutions, and the fpplings of my soul, as I 

v/UiJleiii|jlciH:7 j^a:-r^lli^ cvtrillS^ ;i tul lollow nilt lu its IlltillUlte 

results, the headlong wickedness of this generation. Sure- 
ly, we can enter somewhat into the experience of the 
lamenting prophet, when he exclaimed, — ' Oh that my head 
W'ere waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I 
might weep day and night for the sins' of this people. 

How unutterably affeciing is a view of the present as- 
pect of the country ! The enslavement of the colored 
population seems to be but one of a hideous host of evils, 
threatening in their combined influence, the overthrow of 
the fairest prospects of this wide republic. Of the aboli- 
tion of slavery 1 feel certain. Its doom is sealed. I read 
it in the holy and inflexible resolves of thousands who are 
coming up to the contest with the spirit of martyrs, and 
in the strength, and under the leadership of Jehovah. I 
read it in the blind fury and unmitigated malignity of 
Southern tyrants and their Northern participants in crime. 
I read it in the gathering frown, and bursting indignation 
of Christendom. The consummation of our hopes draws 



LETTER FROM M AKBLEIIE AD. 107 

nigh. The times are pregnant with great events. Ameri- 
ca must witness another revolution, and tlie second will be 
far more illustrious in its results than the j^;\s^. The sec- 
ond will be a moral revolution. A struggle for higher, 
holier, more catholic, more patriotic principles: and the 
weapons of our warfare will not be carnal, but mighty 
through God to the pulling down of strong holds. Durinor 
the progress of this latter revolution will be witnessed the 
advent of ' Liberty,' in the true sense of that now much 
abused and perverted name : 

* O spring to light, auspicious babe, be born.' 

While, however, I have no fears respecting the ultimate 
effectuation of the object so dear to our hearts, I have 
many fears for the perpetuity of this nation as a Republic 
— for the continuance of these States as a Union — for the 
existence of that Constitution, which, properly respected 
and maintained, would bless the country and the world. 
These fears do not arise from any tendency to such results 
in the principles of abolition in themselves considered. 
Those principles are conservative of the peace, and hap- 
piness, and security of the nation; and, if vohintarily act- 
ed upon, would heal many of the feuds and animosities 
which have endangered the integrity of the Union. My 
fears are founded upon the symptoms every u'here exhibited, 
of an approach to mob-supremacy, and consequent anar- 
chy. In every direction I see the minority prostrate be- 
fore the majority ; who, despite of law, the constitution, and 
natural equity, put their heel upon the neck of the weak- 
er portion, and perpetrate every enormity in the name of 
'public opinion.' * Public opinion' is at this hour the dc- 
mon of oppression — harnessing to the ploughshare of ruin, 
the ignorant and interested opposers of the truth in every 
section of this heaven-favored, but mob-cursed land. Al- 
ready the Constitution lies prostrate — an insulted, wound- 
ed, impotent form. A thousand hands are daily uplifted 
to send assassin daggers to its heart. Look on the pages 
of the daily press, and say, if traitors to liberty and the 
Constitution are not seduously schooling a hood-winked 
multitude to commit a suicidal act upon their own boasted 
freedom? Count (if they can be counted) the disturban- 



108 LETTER 

ces occuring all over the land, and say, is not mob-supre- 
macy the order of the day ? Where is the freedom of 
speech? where the right of association? where the secu- 
rity of national conveyances ? where the inviolability of 
personal liberty? where the sanctity of the domestic cir- 
cle ? where the protection of property ? where the prerog- 
atives of the judge ? where the trial by jury? Gone, or 
fast disappearing. The minority in every place speak, and 
write and meet, and walk, at the peril of their lives. I 
speak not now exclusively of the Anti-Abolition mania, 
which has more recently displayed itself with all its froth 
and foam, and thirst for spoliation and blood. I have in 
mind the Anti-Mormanism of Missouri, and its accompa- 
nyincr heart-rending persecutions: — the yl«^/-Anti-Mason- 
ic fury, with the ABDUCTION OF MORGAN, and its 
other grim features of destruction and death : — the burn- 
ing zeal of Anti-Temperance, with its bonfires and effigies, 
and its innumerable assaults upon persons and property : — 
the Anti-Gambling, and the Anti-Insurrection tragedies of 
Southern States, with their awful waste of human life, and 
the frequent sacrifice of the blood of INNOCENT VIC- 
TIMS : — but time would fail to tell of Anti-Whig, and 
Anti-Jackson, and Anti-Convent, and Anti-B;ink, and 
Anti-Kcnn, and Anti-Anderson, and Anti-Graham, and 
Anti-Joel Parker, and Anti-Cheever, and Anti-Colored 
School, and Anti-IIouse of Ill-fame riots, with all the oth- 
er anti-men and anti-women, anti-black, and anti-red, and 
anti-meat, and anti-drink riots, and mobs, and persecutions, 
which have distinguished this age and land of Revivals, 
and Missions, and Bible Societies, and educational opera- 
tions, and liberty, and independence, and equality. Suf- 
fice it to say, that for some years past, all who have dared 
to act, or think aloud, in opposition to the will of the ma- 
jority, have held their property and being dependent on the 
clemency of A ]MOB. Were I a citizen of this country, 
and did there seem no escape from such a dreadful state 
of things — if I did not, on behalf of the righteous and 
consistent, (for, thank God there are thousands of such, 
who cease not day nor night to weep and pray for their 
country,) hope and believe for brighter days and better 
deeds, I should choose to own the dominion of the dark- 
est despot that ever sealed the lipof truth, or made the soul 



FROM MARBLEHEAD. 109 

of a slave tremble at his glance. If I must be a slave — if 
my lips must wear a padlock — if I must crouch and crawl 
let it be before a hereditary tyrant. Let me see around 
me the symbols of royalty, the bayonets of a standing 
army, the frowning battlements of a bastile. Let me 
breathe the air of a country where the divine right of 
kings to govern wrong is acknowledged and respected. 
Let me know what is the sovereign will and pleasure of 
the one man I am taught to fear and serve. Let me not 
see my rights, and property, and liberties, scattered to the 
same breeze that floats the flag of freedom. Let me not 
be sacrificed to the demon of despotism while laying hold 
upon the horns of our altar dedicated to ' Freedom and 
Equality ! ' I hope, however, for the best. I trust to see 
the people saved from their infatuation and madness. I 
look very much to the spread of anti-slavery principles for 
the salvation of the country, for they are the principles of 
righteous government — they are a foundation for order, 
and peace, and just laws, and equitable administration ; 
and those who embrace them, will be likely to act wisely 
and righteously upon other great questions. 

A Mor, IN Boston!! and such a mob!!! Thirty 
ladies completely routed, and a board 6 feet by 2 utterly 
demolished by 3000 or 4000 respectable ruffians — in broad 
day-light, and broad-cloth! Glorious achievement! and, 
as it deserved to be — regularly Gazetted. Indeed, this 
noble army of gentlemanly savages had all the customary ad- 
juncts of civilized warfare. There were ' Posts,' and 
' Sentinels,' and ' Couriers,' and ' Gazettes,' and a ' HO- 
MER ' too, to celebrate their praise ! A mob in Boston ! 
The birth-place of the revolution— the Cradle of Liberty ! 
A mob in Washington (!) Street, Boston, to put down 

FREE DISCUSSION. 

' Hung be the Heavens with black ! ' 

Shrouded in midnight be the height of Bunker. Let 
the bells of the Old South and Brattle Street be muffled, 
and let the knell of the country's boasted honor and liber- 
ty be xMuy. Ye hoary veterans of the revolution! 
10 



110 LETTER 

clothe yourselves in sackcloth ! strew ashes on your heads, 
and mourn your country's downfall : 

' For what is left the pan iot here ! 

For Greeks a bUish — for Greece a tear.' 

Would ihat you had died, ere the sad truth was demon- 
strated, thai you fought and bled in vain ! 

A mob in Boston ! O, tell it not in St. Petersburgh : 
publisii it not in the streets of Constantinople. But it 
will be told ; it ivlll be published. The damning fact will 
ring through all the haunts of despotism, and will be a 
cordial to the heart of MetLernich — sweet music in the 
ears of the haughty Czar, and a prophetic note of triumph 
to the sovereign Pontiff. What American lip will hence- 
forth dare to breathe a sentCMce of condemnation against 
the bulls ofthePope,or the edicts of the Autocrat ? Should 
a tongue wag in affected sympathy for the denationalized 
Pole, the outlawed Greek, the wretched Serf, or any of 
the priest-ridden or king-ridden victims of Europe, will not 
a voice come thundering over the billows : — 

' B ise hypocrites ! let your charity begin at home — look 
at your own Carolinas — go, pour the balm of consohition 
into the broken hearts of your two millions of enslaved 
children — rebuke the murderers of Vicksburg — reckon 
with the felons of Charleston — restore the contents of 
rifled mail-bags — heal the lacerations, still festering, on 
the ploughed backs of your own citizens — dissolve the star 
chambers of Virginia — tell tlie confederated assassins of 
Alabama and Mississippi to disband — call to judgment the 
barbarians of Baltijnore, and Philadelphia, and New York, 
and Concord, and Haverhill, and Lynn, and Montpelier ; 
and the well-dressed mobocrats of Utica, and Salem, and 
BOSTON. Go, ye praters about tha soul-destroying igno- 
rance of Romanism, gather again the scattered schools of 
Canterbury and Canaan — get the clerical minions of 
Southern task-masters to rescind their 'Resolutions' of 
withholding knowledge from immortal Americans — rend 
the veil of legal en,actments by which the beams of light 
divine are hidden from millions who are left to grope their 
way through darkness here, to everlasting blackness be- 
yond the grave. Go, shed your ' patriotic ' tears over the 



FROM MARBLEHEAD. Ill' 

infamy of your country amidst the ruins of yonder Con- 
vent. Go, proud and sentimental Bostonians, preach 
clemency to the respectable horde who are dragging forth 
for immolation one of your own citizens. Cease your anath- 
emas against the Vatican, and screw your courage up to 
resist the worse than papal bulls of Georgia, demanding, 
at the peril of your ' bread and butter,' the * heads ' of 
your citizens, and the passage of gag-laws. Before you 
rail at arbitrary power in foreign regions, save your own 
citizens from the felonious interception of their corres- 
pondence ; and teach the sworn and paid servants of the 
Republic the obligations of an oath, and the guaranteed 
rightsof ay^TC people. Send not your banners to Poland, 
but tear them into shreds to be distributed to the mob, as 
halters for your sons. When, next July, you rail at mitres, 
and crosiers, and sceptres ; and denounce the bowstring, 
and the bayonet, and the faggot, let your halls be decorat- 
ed with plaited scourges, wet with the blood of the sons of 
the Pilgrims — let the tar cauldron smoke — the gibbet rear 
aloft its head — and cats, and blood-hounds,* (the brute 
auxiliaries of Southern Liberty men) howl and bark in 
unison with the demoniacal ravings of a gentlemanly mob ' 
— while above the Orator of the day, and beneath the 



*See the accounts in Southern newspapers of 'a curious mode of 
punishment^ recently introduced, called ' cat-haumng.' The victim i« 
stretched upon his face, and a cat, thrown upon his bare shoulders, is drag- 
ged to the bottom of the back. This is continued till the body is ' com- 
pletely lacerated.' 

'The Vicksburgh (Miss.) Register says, that Mr. Earl, one of the victimst 
of mobocracy in Mist^issippi, was tortured a w hole night to elicit confession. 
The brutal and hellish tormenters laid Mr. Earl upon his back, and drew a 
cat tail foremost across his body ! ! ! He hung himFclf soon after in jail.* 

See also the accounts of the Mississippi murders given by a correspondent 
in the Charleston Courier, dating his letter Tyger, (how appropriate !) Bay- 
ou, Madison County, Miss. The following is an extract: ' Andrew Boyd, 
a conspirator, was required by the Committee of Safety, and Mr. Dickson. 
Hiram Reynolds and Hiram Perkins (since killed) were ordered to arrest 
him. They discovered he was flying, and immediately commenced the pur- 
suit, with a PACK OF TRAINED HOUNDS. He miraculously effected his 
deliverance from his pursuers, after swimming Big Black River, and running 
through cane-brakes and swamps until night fall, when the party called off 
THE DOGS. Early next morning they renewed the chase, and started 
Boyd one mile from whence they had called off the dogs. But he effected 
his escape onhorse (fortune throwing one in his way ,) the hounds noihem^ 
accustomed to that training after he quit the bush.' 



112 LETTER 

striped and starry banner, stand forth in characters of 
bloodj the distinctive mottos of the age : 

DOWN WITH DISCUSSION. 

LYNCH LAW TRIUMPHANT. 

SLAVERY FOREVER. 

HAIL, COLUMBIA. 

Before you weep over the wrongs of Greece, go wash the 
gore out of your national shambles — appease the frantic 
mother robbed of her only child, the centre of her hopes, 
and joys, and sympathies — restore to yon desolate husband 
the wife of his bosom — abolish the slave marts of Alexan- 
dria, — the human flesh auctions of Richmond and New 
Orleans — ' undo the heavy burdens,' ' break every yoke,' 
and stand forth to the gaze of the world — not steeped in 
infamy and rank with blood, but in the posture of penitence 
and prayer, a FREE and REGENERATED nation. 

Such, truly, are the bitter reproaches with which every 
breeze from a distant land might be justly freighted. How 
long? — In the name of outraged humanity, I ask, how long 
shall they be deserved? Are the people greedy of a 
world's execration? or have they any sense of shame — any 
blush of patriotism left? Each day the flagrant inconsist- 
ency and gross wickedness of the nation are becoming 
more widely and correctly kown. Already on foreign 
shores the lovers of corruption and despotism are referring 
with exultation to the recent bloody dramas in the South 
and the pro-slavery meetings and mobs of the country gen- 
erally, i?} proof o( the '■dangerous tendency of Democratic 
'principles.' Howlon^ shall the deeds of America clog the 
wheels of the car of Universal Freedom ? Vain is every 
boast — acts speak louder than icords. While 

' Columbia's sous are bought and sold,' 

while citizens of America are murdered without trial — 
while persons and property are at the mercy of a mob — 
while city authorities are obliged to make concessions to a 
bloody minded multitude, and finally incarcerate unoffend- 
ing citizens to save them from a violent death — while 
• gentlemen of standing and property' are in unholy league 



FROM MARBLEHEAD. 113 

to effect the abduction and destruction of a ' foreigner, 
the head and front of whose offending is, tliat he is laboring 
to save the country from its worst foe — while assem- 
blages of highly respectable citizens, comprising large 
numbers of the clergy, and some of the judges of the land, 
are interrupted and broken up, and the houses of God in 
which they met, attacked in open day by thousands of men 
armed with all the implements of demolition — while the 
entire south presents one great scene of slavery and 
slaughter — and while the north deeply sympathise with 
their ' southern brethren,' sanction their deeds of felony and 
murder, and obsequiously do their bidding by hunting down 
their own fellow citizens who dare to plead for equal rights 
— and, finally, while hundreds of the ministers of Christ, 
of every denomination, are making common cause with 
the plunderer of his species — yea, themselves reduce God's 
image to the level of the brute, and glory in their shame — 
I say, while these things exist, professions and boasts are 
* sounding brass ; ' men will learn to loathe the name of 
Republicanism, and deem it synonymous with mob despot- 
ism, and the foulest oppression on the face of the globe. 

A word to the opposers of the cause of emancipation. 
You must stop in your career of persecution, or proceed 
to still darker deeds — and wider desolations. At present, 
you have done nothing but help us. You have, it is true, 
made a sincere, though impotent attempt to please your 
masters at the south. The abolitionists have risen after 
every attempt to crush them, with greater energy and in 
greater numbers. They are still speaking ; they are still 
writing; still praying ; still weeping (not over their suffer- 
ings, but your sins) — they are working in public and in 
private, by day and by night — they are sustained by prin- 
ciples you r/o not (because yomvillnoi) understand — prin- 
ciples drawn pure from the throne of God — they have 
meat to eat which you know not of, and live, and are 
nourished, and are strong while you wonder that they do 
not wither under your frown, and fall into annihilation 
before the thunderbolts of your wrath. Some of you have 
conversed with them. What think you of the abolition- 
ists 1 of their moral courage — their tact in argument — 
their knowledge of the scriptures — their interpretation of 
the constitution 1 Have you found them ignorant ? Have 
10* 



114 LETTER 

yeu found them weak ? Have you not often been driven to 
your wit's end by the probing questions or ready answers of 
these silly and deluded women and children 1 How then do 
you expect to conquer 1 If fnaUi/ by the sword, why de- 
lay. Commence the work of butchery to-day. Every 
hour you procrastinate, witnesses an increase of your vic- 
tims — a defection from your ranks, and an augmentation 
in numbers and influence of those you wish to destroy. 
You profess to be republicans. Have you ever asked your- 
selves what you are doing for the principles you profess to 
revere? In the name of sacred Liberty, I call upon you 
to pause. 1 conjure you, 

* By every hallowerl name, 

Thai ever led your sires to fame :' — 

pause, and see whitlier your present deeds are tending. 
Be honest — be just — just to yourselves, just to us, before 
you condemn us, still more, before you seek to destroy us, 
'Search us, and know our hearts ; try us, and know our 
thoughts, and see if there be any wicked way in us.' Con- 
demn us not unheard. ' Strike, but hear.' R.emember, too, 
that your violence will effect nothing while the liberty of 
the press remains. While the principles and opinions of 
abolitionists, as promulgated in their journals, are carried 
on the wings of the wind over sea and land, you do but 
give a wider circulation to those principles and opinions 
by your acts of violence and blood. You awaken the de- 
sire — the determination to know and understand what 
'these babblers say.' Be prepared, therefore, to violate 
the constitution by annihilating the Liberty of the Press. 

In this place it may not be inappropriate to introduce a 
passage from an able letter, recently addressed by the 
eloquent M. de Chateaubriand to the French Chamber of 
Deputies, while that body were advocating the recent law 
for imposing severe restrictions on the French press : 

' I coukl, (says he,) if I wished, crush you under the weight of your origin, 
and show you to be faithless to yourselves, to your past actions and lan- 
guage. But I spare you the reproaclies wliich the wiiole world heaps upon 
you. I call not upon you to give an account of the oaths you have raken. I 
will merely tell you that you have not arrived at the end of your task, and 
that ill the perilous career you have entered upon — following the example 
of other governmenta which have met with destruction — you must go oa 



FROM MARHLEIIEAD. 115 

till you arrive at llie abyss. You have done nothing till you establish the 
censorship ; nothing but that, can be clVicacious against the iibei ty of the 
press. A violent law may kill the man, but the censorsiiip alone kills the 
idea, and this latter it is which ruins your system. l?e prepared, then, to es- 
tablish the censorship, and be assured that on the day on ^\hich you do es- 
tablish it you will perish.' 

In concluding this lenglitened communication, let me ex- 
hort you, my beloved brother, to ' be of good clieer,' and 
to exercise unwavering confidence in the God your serve — 
the God of Jacob, and of Elijah, and of Daniel — of all 
who, with singleness, prefer the faithful discharge of duty, 
and its consequences, to the suggestions of expediency, 
and the favor of the world. He is able to deliver you in 
the hour of peril, and give you the victory over all your 
enemies. To Him resort for refuge. He Avill be a hiding 
place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers 
of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in 
a weary land. To ail, who with you are waging this holy 
war, I would say ; — Let not passing events move you. 
The turbulence and malignity of your opponents prove the 
potency and purity of your cause. But yesterday the abo- 
litionists were esteemed few, mean, silly, and contemptible. 
Now they are of sufficient importance to arouse and fix the 
attention of the entire country, and earth and hell are 
ransacked for weapons and recruits, with which to fight 
the ignorant, imbecile, superannuated and besotted believ- 
ers in the doctrines of immediate emancipation. This is 
a good sign. An unequivocal compliment to the divinity 
of your principles. ' Ye are not of the world, therefore, 
the world hateth you. Blessed are ye when men shall re- 
vile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of 
evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice and be 
exceeding glad ; for great is your reward in heaven; for 
so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.' 
Let your motto be * Onw^\rds !' You have already ac- 
complished much. You have awakened the country from 
its guilty slumber. You can reckon upon three hundred 
Auxiliary Associations, embracing a large portion of the 
effective moral energy of the land. The churches of the 
North are taking right ground upon the question. The 
principles of abolition are diffused through most of the sem- 
inaries of learning. The females of America are nobly 
devoting themselves to this work of mercy, regardless of the 



116 LETTER FROM MARBLEHEAD. 

malignity of their heartlesss and unmanly persecutors. 
Onwards, therefore ! A few years will witness an entire 
change in the sentiments of the American people, and 
those who are now drawn up in opposition to your philan- 
thropic movement, will blush to acknowledge the dishon- 
orable part they have enacted. A voice, from the other 
side of the Atlantic, says, Onwards ! You are supported 
by the prayers and sympathies of Great Britain. The 
abolitionists of the British empire are with you. They are 
the friends of the peace, happiness and glory of your coun- 
try, and earnestly desire the arrival of the day, when, hav- 
ing achieved a victory over Slavery in this continent, you 
will join them in efforts for its abolition throughout the 
world. While you pray fervently for strength in the day 
of conflict, pray also for grace to bear yourselves with 
meekness and charity towards those who oppose you. 
Pursue your holy object in the Spirit of Christ, ' giving no 
offence in any thing, that the (cause) be not (justly) blam- 
ed, but in all things approving yourselves as the servants 
ofGod, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in 
distresses, in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in la- 
bors, in watchings, in fastings ; by pureness, by knowledge, 
by long-suffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love 
unfeigned, by the word of truth, by the power of God, by 
the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the 
left, by honor and dishonor, by evil report and good report, 
as deceivers, and yet true ; as unknown, and yet well 
known ; as dying, and behold you live ; as chastened, and 
not killed ; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet 
making many rich ; as having nothing, and yet possessing 
all things.' 

Your affectionate friend, 

and devoted fellow-laborer, 

GEORGE THOMPSON. 



( in ) 



LETTER FROM ST. JOHN, N. B. 

November 27, 1335. 

My Dear Garrison : — 

As it is probable I shall not be many hours on shore, and 
as you will doubtless expect to hear from me before I sail, 
I snatch an hour to send you a hurried letter. The fol- 
lowing is a very brief account of my movements since I 
bid you farewell. 

On Sunday, Nov. 8th, at noon went on board the Brit- 
ish Brig Satisfaction — the day remarkably fine — dropped 
sluggishlyd own the stream. At five, discharged the pilot, 
and at midnight were off the lights of Cape Ann. 

Monday , 9th. Had a fair breeze and a fine run along the 
coast. 

Tuesday, 10th. At one o'clock, P. M. off Grand Ma- 
nan Island. Took on board a pilot— went into long Island 
Bay, where we dropped anchor for the night. 

Wednesday , 11th. Set sail from Long Island Bay, and 
at 2 o'clock, P. M. came to anchor in Passamaquoddy Bay, 
off St. Andrews. Had a tremendous gale all niaht. Had 
we been on the outside of the harbor it is all but certain 
that we should have been cast away. 

Thursday, 12th. At half past 10, A. M. the captain, 
pilot, and myself got into the ship's boat, and, after an 
hour's pull, landed at St. Andrews. I took lodgings at a 
quiet, well-conducted boarding-house — the proprietor and 
lady from England. Until the following Wednesday night 
I found ample employment in arranging the vast quantity 
of evidence, upon the subject of slavery, which I have 
brought from the United States. I have now six bulky 
volumes filled with extracts taken from Northern and 
Sothern papers, besides a large quantity of tracts, pamph- 



118 LETTER 

lets, volumes, &.c. &c., and a great number of Southern 
newspapers, which I have preserved entire, with full ac- 
counts of Anti-Abolition meetings — sales of negroes — re- 
wards offered for the advocates of the slave, &.c. &c. I 
have also some of the inflammatory hand bills circulated 
in Boston, Salem, and New York, and some placards, ad- 
vertising slaves for sale, and setting foith the * honesty,' 
' industry,' ' skill,' ' subriciy,' and ' value ' of those 
'wretched beings,' who, if delivered from the yoke of 
bondage, ' would not be able to take care of themseves.' 
I have, besides, about two thousand four hundred Anti- 
Slavery newspapers, besides reports, magazines, records, 
Slaves' Friend, &c. &c. ; also a full set of the African Re- 
pository, and reports of the Colonization Society. I have 
made every necessary arrangement for the safe transmis- 
sion to England of whatever documents may enable me to 
illustrate the state of the abolition question in the progress 
of that mighty reformation, which, under God, you and 
your honored associates are carrying forward. 

On Thursday, the 19th, at seven o'clock, A. M. I went 
on board the Maid of the Mist, Steamer, and at half 
past five, P. M. reached the city of St. John, where 

I found our kind and devoted friend, , with a 

host of communications from your city, a;id other parts, 
all breathing the warmest affection, and evincing unshaken 
courage in the great conflict. My custom-house business, 
packing, &:c. are now done, and I am now ready to step 
on board the vessel whenever the word is given. I have 
experienced the^rreatest kindness during my short sojourn 
in New Brunswick. In this place I have been most ur- 
gently entreated to deliver a lecture upon the present as- 
pect of affairs in the United States ; but owing to the un- 
certainty respecting the time of my departure, and the 
overwhelming press of correspondence, wliich requires my 
attention, I have declined. 

A host of thoughts rush upon my brain — a tumlt of emo- 
tions swell my breast, while my pen lingers over the sheet 
designed for you. What can I say, my dear brother? My 
heart is too full for utterance upon paper. I find myself at 
all times inadequate to the expression of my feelings in 
epistolary communication ; and, on this occasion, I am 
more than ordinarily embarrassed. However, I am writing 



FROiM ST. JOHN, N. B. 119 

to one who knows my heart, and it is, therefore, unneces- 
sary that I should state my views or profess anew my de- 
votion to the cause of the suffering slave. It may, per- 
haps, be as well to assure you that, though for a time ban- 
ished from your country, I love it still — yea, that my love 
increases towards you as a people ; nor can 1 help feeling 
frequently that my destinies are linked with yours, and that 
all which affects the honor and safety of your country are 
matters of concern and deep solicitude to me. I love 
America, because her sons, though my persecutors, are im- 
mortal ; because ' they know not what they do ; ' or, if en- 
lightened and wilful, are so much the more to be pitied and 
cared for. I love America, because of the many affec- 
tionate friends I have found upon her shores, by whom I 
have been cherished, refreshed, and strengthened, and up- 
on whose regard I place an incalculable value. I love 
America, for there dwells the fettered slave — fettered, and 
darkened, and degraded now, but soon to spring into light 
and liberty, and rank on earth, as he is ranked in heaven, 
' but a little lower than the angels.' I love America, be- 
cause of the many mighty and magnificent enterprises in 
which she has embarked for the salvation of the world. I 
love her rising spires — her peaceiul villages, and her mul- 
tiplied means of moral, literary and religious improvement. 
I love her hardy sons, the tenants of her vallies, and her 
mountains green. I love her native children of the forest, 
still roaming, untutored and untamed in the unsubdued 
wilderness of the * far West.' I love your country, be- 
cause it is the theatre of the sublimest contest now wacrincr 
with darkness, and despotism, and misery, on the face of 
the globe — and because your country is ordained to be the 
scene of a triumph as holy in its character, and as glo- 
rious in its results, as any ever achieved through the in- 
strumentality of man. But, though my soul yearns over 
America, and I desire nothing more eagerly than to see 
lier stand forth, among the nations of the world, unsullied 
in reputation, and omnipotent in energy, yet shall I, if 
spared, deem it my duty to publish aloud her wide and 
fearful departures from rectitude and mercy. I shall un- 
ceasingly proclaim the wrongs of her enslaved children ; 
and while she continues to traffjc in the souls of men, 
brand her as recreant to the great principles of her revo- 



i^O LETTER 

liitionary struggle, and hypocritical in all her professions 
of attachment to the cause of human rights. Think not, 
my friend, that when I speak of America, I shall dwell 
upon the petty foibles (if foibles they be) of the great, and 
growing, and enlightened, and improving people among 
whom I have travelled. No. I shall leave it to other, and 
more minute and fastidious journalists, to animadvert upon 
* American manners,' in drawing rooms — the treatment of 
Turkey carpets — the demeanor of* gentlemen of standing 
and property ' in the theatre — the time occupied in swal- 
lowing an egg, or discussing a beef-steak, &.c. Slc. I 
shall have other and mightier themes — ' Liberty outraged 
in her sanctuary and home' — The rights of 'man annihi' 
latcd in the land of the free — Gods awful image bought 
and sold in the American market. Upon these topics I shall 
write, and speak, and print; while Heaven continues to 
me reason and energy, or until America learns justice to 
her captive children. I shall guard against the charge of 
misrepresentation, by founding all I say upon abundant 
and incontrovertible evidence, viz : American documents. 
Sages and senators, priests and politicians, mechanics and 
merchants, lawyers and legislators, shall all speak for them- 
selves ; assemblies, and synods, and presbyteries, and as- 
sociations, and conferences, and conventions, shall all 
speak in the language of their own ' preambles,' and * pro- 
tests,' and 'resolutions,' and 'appeals,' and 'counter ap- 
peals,' and 'pastoral letters,' and 'official disclaimers,' 
&:c. &/C. I will echo the sentiments of the Cradle of Lib- 
erty, in the words there uttered. I will read the various in- 
terpretations of the American Constitution, from the iden- 
tical leading articles and pamphlets put forth by its most 
'jealous ' and ' patriotic ' defenders. The Otises, and the 
Spragues, and the Fletchers, who lacked the magnanimity 
to allow me the chance of contendinor with them on the 
day when they traduced their COUNTRY and ME, shall 
be heard in Great Britain. The placards that have adorn- 
ed the walls of Northern American post-offices and South- 
ern slave-markets, shall appear before the eyes, and make 
their own unaided appeal to British hearts, and British un- 
derstandings. If I am asked why I thus discuss American 
Slavery, on British soil, I will point to the immense 
amount of American slave-grown produce floating in our 



ST. JOHN, N. B. 121 

harborSj-or stored in our warehouses; and I will urge my 
countrymen and! countrywomen, by every consideration 
which humanity, political economy, and religion can sug- 
gest, to cease from the use of the accursed thing. 

It is matter of unfeigned thankfulness, that frequently 
and publicly as I have spoken, upon the subject of slave- 
ry in all its bearings, and anxiously as 1 have sought inves- 
tigation into my views, principles, and purposes, the only 
charge which they have framed against me, touching the 
sentiments I hold, which has been put into specific lan- 
guage, is grounded upon a single expression in 21. private 
conversation ; that expression severed from its connection, 
and perverted from a simple and legitimate argument^ 
drawn from the political principles of my opponent, 
into an unqualifed declaration of my oivn sentiments. 
Other charges have been preferred, affecting my moral 
character. These (in accordance with the advice of my 
friends) I shall leave to my revered associates in the cause 
of abolition, who are thoroughly acquainted with my past 
history and are at liberty to take what notice they please 
of the multiplied paragraphs which have been circulated 
with a view to blast my reputation, and rob the bleeding 
slave of the value of my poor services in his behalf. My 
history for the last five years is known to thousands. I 
have been ever during that time, before the world ; my 
words and actions constantly open to public scrutiny. I 
appeal to the members of the London Anti-Slavery Socie- 
ty ; to the members of the Metropolitan Agency Commit- 
tee, whose agent and representative I was, up to the time 
I left for this country. I appeal to the various Committees 
throughout Great Britain, with whom I have been asso- 
ciated. I appeal to the multitude of ministers of the 
Gospel, and Christians of every denomination, on both 
sides of the Atlantic, with whose acquaintance, co-opera- 
tion and friendship I have been honored. I appeal to all 
with whom I have had any transactions, pecuniary or other- 
wise, to point to an act, a word, at variance with honor, 
honesty, or veracity. 

I came not to the United States, as has been falsely and 
wickedly asserted, ' a fugitive from justice.' I left the 
country of my birth after an arduous and triumphant pub- 
lic career, laden with benefits, and wafted by the blessings 



1«J2 LETTER 

and prayers of a Christian community. There the paths 
to honor, independence and popularity, were before me, 
and by many I was besought to stay and tread them. I 
preferred to visit your shores. I came, as you and all who 
know me can bear testimony, not to seek the silver and 
gold so largely obtained by other ' foreigners,' but to spend 
and be spent in the cause of freedom and humanity, ask- 
ing only a hearing on behalf of the captive pining and 
sighing within the borders of your free and fertile land. 
I have been accused of abusing the * hospitality ' I have 
received. I believe this charge will never be preferred by 
any who have cherished the stranger, against whom this 
accusation is so often hurled ; it shall not be, if a gratitude, 
which neither time nor distance can efface or weaken, and 
a fervent love and active zeal to the true welfare of their 
country, will commend me to their continued regard. The 
charge, however, has invariably originated, I believe, with 
those from whom, if any friend of the slave were to ask 
bread, he would receive a stone ; or if^ a Jish, he would re- 
ceive a seiyent ; or if an egg, he Avould receive a scorpion. 
While I thus repel certain charges which have been 
unjustly brought against me, let it not be understood that 
I desire to claim infallibility, or to vindicate, excuse, or 
palliate, any act of my past life which is justly reprehensi- 
ble ; God forbid ! I trust I have too sacred a regard for the 
principles of truth and integrity to attempt to weaken their 
force upon my own or other minds by extenuating any con- 
duct involving a violation of those principles. Where- 
in I have erred, I have no hesitation in speaking in terras 
of the bitterest self-reproach. Before Heaven and the 
world, I am ready frankly and sorrowfully to acknowledge 
jny faults. Could any labor, any sacrifice, could my tears 
or my blood, expiate to society, or to individuals, the er- 
rors of my past life, I would freely do and suffer all within 
my power. What more can I say ? What more need I 
say ? What more is required, in reference to my fellow- 
men, by Him who is the righteous Judge of all mankind? 
What more is demanded of any Christian in America — 
in the world 1 To the enemies of the sacred cause I ad- 
vocate, nothing I could say would be satisfactory. In their 
eyes, the crime of an individual consists, not in apologis- 
ing/or sin, or continuing in sin, but in repentance and 



FROM ST. JOHN, N. B, 123 

reformation ; in turning from sin, and in bringing forth 
fruits meet for repentance. Thc7i is he brought up for 
judgment, and condemned and punished for the sins of the 
past, on account o^ the rectitude and unbLimableness of his 
present conduct. No fact is more obvious tlian this. The 
men who most severely scrutinize the character and con- 
duct of abolitionists, and 'compass sea and land' to 
frame a charge against them, are the open, shameless, and 
systematic defenders of a system of piracy, lust, heathen- 
ism, and soul-murder. To such I make no appeal. They 
lack every principle of sound and righteous judgment. To 
those in the Christian world, who, forgetting the * charity 
which rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth,' 
which ' hopeth all things, and believeth all things,' are prone 
gladly to receive, and eagerly to propagate, reports injuri- 
ous to the reputation and usefulness of those who are la- 
boring in the cause of humanity and freedom, I would say, 
Study the character of Him whose disciples you profess to 
be — remember his awful words, ' Judge not, that you be 
not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be 
iudged ; and with what measure ye mete, it shall be rneas* 
ured unto you again, he that is icithout sin among you, first 
cast a stone.' 

I thank God, I cherish no feelings of bitterness or re- 
venge towards any individual in America — my most invet- 
erate enemy not excepted. Should the sea, on which I 
am about to embark, receive me ere I gain my native shore 
— should this be the last letter I ever address to you, and 
through you, to the people of America, Heaven bears me 
witness, I with trutli and sincerity affirm, that, as I look 
to be freely forgiven, so freely do I forgive my persecutors 
and slanderers, and pray — * Lord, lay not this sin to their 
charge.' 

Should a kind Providence place me again upon the soil 
of my birth, and when there, should any American (and I 
hope many will) visit that soil, to plead the cause of vir- 
tue and philanthropy, and strive, in love, to provoke us to 
good works, let him know^ that there will be one man who 
will uphold his right to liberty of speech — one man, 
who w^ill publickly and privately assert and maintain the 
divinity of his commission to attack sin, and alleviate 
misery in every form, in every latitude, and by what° 



124 LETTER 

ever name, and under whatever sanctions and authorities 
it may be cloaked and guarded. And coming on such an 
errand, I think I may pledge myself, on behalf of my 
country, that he shall not be driven, with a wife and little 
ones, from the door of a hotel, in less than thirty-six hours 
after he first breathes our air — that he shall not be de- 
nounced as an ' incendiary,' a * fanatic,' an 'emissary,' 
an ' enemy ' — that he shall not be assailed with oaths and 
missiles, while proclaiming from the pulpit, iii the house 
©f God, on the evening of a Christian Sabbath, the doc- 
trines of judgment, justice, and mercy ' — that he shall not 
be threatened, wherever he goes, with tar and feathers — 
that he shall not be repudiated and abused, in miscalled 
religious newspapers, and by men calling themselves Chris- 
tian ministers — that he shall not have a price set upon his 
head, and his house surrounded with ruilians, hired to ef- 
fect his abduction — that his wife and children shall not be 
forced to flee from the hearth of a friend, lest they should 
be * snaked out ' by men in civic authority, and their paid 
myrmidons — that the mother and her little ones, shall not 
find, at midnight, the house surrounded by an infuriated 
multitude, calling, with horrible execration, for the hus- 
band and the father — that his lady shall not be doomed, 
while in a strange land to see her babes clinging to her 
with affright, exclaiming, ' the 7iioh shan't get papa ' — 
' papa is good, is he not? the naughty mob shan't get him, 
shall they?' — that he shall not, finally, be forced to quit 
the most enlightened and Christian city of our nation, to 
escape the assassin's knife, and return to tell his country 
that, in Britain, the friend of virtue, humanity, and free- 
dom, was put beyond the protection of the laws, and the 
pale of civilized sympathy, and given over, by professor 
and profane, to the tender mercies of a blood-thirsty 
rabble, 

if spared, I shall send you, from time to time, an ac- 
count (as minute and regular as my time and strength will 
permit) of my journeyings, labors, trials, disappointments, 
encouragements, and successes, with the progress of the 
cause generally, on the other side of the Atlantic. My 
beloved American friends must not think unkindly of me, 
if I do not write to them individually. Through the 
pages of your journal, I will keep them acquainted with 
?ny sayings and doings. 



FROM ST. JOHN, N. B. 



125 



Let it never be forgotten that our object is, tlic abolition 
of slavery throughout the world — that ours is not a sec- 
tional or a national question — and the energies, now con- 
centrating for the immediate emancipation of the Ameri- 
can slave, are to be continued in full and growing opera- 
tion, while a captive sighs into the ear of awakened phd- 
anthropy, or the heavens are pierced by the unutterable 
groan of one immortal being into whose soul the iron of 
an unjust bondage enters. Brazil, with her two millions 
of slaves, awaits the well-directed, moral influence of 
Great Britain and America unitrd. A part only of the 
Antilles is free. A voice from Cuba and Porto Rico, from 
Guadaloupe and Martinique, is heard, ' Come over and 
help us.' Yes, and by God's assistance we will. Our vis- 
ion shall comprehend the whole field. Our energies shall 
be directed to the annihilation of slavery wherever it ex- 
ists on the face of the globe. We will 'remember them 
that are in bonds, as bound with them.' In whatever 
country, in whichever hemisphere they dwell. The voice 
of remonstrance shall be heard from isle to isle, from shore 
to shore, and from continent to continent, until Christen- 
dom is purged from the stain of blood, and Africa deliv- 
ered from the spoiler of her children. 

' Muse ! take the harp of prophecy. Behold 
The glories of a brighter aga unfold ! 
Friends of the outcast, view the accomplished plan, 
The negro towering to the height of man. 

* * * * * * . 

Ts greatness bound to color, shape, or air 1 
No ! God created all his children fair. 
Tyrants and slaves no more their tribes shall see, 
For God created all his children free. 

Now Justice leaugedwith Mercy from above, 
Shall reign in all the liberty of love ; 
/"' ^^ And the sweet shores, beneath the balmy west. 
Again shall be tV^ islands of the blest.' 

I shall endeavor to get the societies in Great Britain to 
observe the last Monday evening of the month as a season 
of prayer, for the abolition of slavery throughout the 
world. It will be delightful on that occasion to blend our 
spirits in prayer and intercession before a throne of grace. 



126 LETTER FROM ST. JOHN, N. B. 

Thus, waiting upon the Lord, we shall renew our strength. 
We shall mount on the wings of eagles. We shall run 
and not be weary. We shall walk and not faint. 

It was inexpressibly painful to leave, without the oppor- 
tunity of saying farewell to the endeared companions of 
my struggles and dangers in your city. Perhaps, however, 
it was better that it should be so. 

* Ye, who have known what it is to dote upon 
A few dear objects, will in sadness feel 
Such partings break the heart they fondly hope to heal.' 

Let me now take an affectionate leave of my friends 
throughout America. Though my scene of labor, for the 
present, will be distant from yours, I shall be contending 
for the same high principles — I shall be seeking to ad- 
vance the same holy object. Let me have your prayers, 
that the blessing of the Most High may rest upon my 
efforts to arouse the sympathies and enlist the co-operation 
of the wise and virtuous in Europe. You may confide 
in my devotion to the cause. I will not cease to commend 
you to the care and benediction of 'our Father who is in 
heaven ; ' and I will look forward to the day when (if nev- 
er again on earth) we shall meet where all is joy, and 
calm, and liberty, and love. 

In parting with you, my beloved brother, words fail me, 
and I must be indebted to the language of your own elo- 
quent, animating, and Christian-minded letter to me. 
* With a full heart and weeping eyes, I bid you farewell. 
Our feelings, purposes, hopes, soids, are one. Nor time, 
nor distance, shall separate our spirits. I know you too 
well to believe that you will ever prove recreant to the 
cause of God. Together let us antagonize with a world 
lying in wickedness.' Amen, with all my heart ! We 
have grappled with the monster — let us never relinquish 
our hold, until he falls in a grave of infamy, from which 
there is no resurrection, or we are summoned from the con- 
flict here — 

* And cease at once to work and live.' 

In bonds of closest atfection. 

Your friend and fellow-laborer, 

GEORGE THOMPSON. 







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